Rebellion: The Beginning
by McPirate
Summary: An evil Voodoo Lady is ensnaring pirates in her magical realm. Can she be defeated? summary taken from LucasArts Fiction Thanks Ryback
1. The meeting at the infamous SCUMM bar

Angus nipped into his grog, saw the Governor straight into the eyes, then started his tale. "I was travelling with some guy that I meet in Glasgow named Ben, when I got to Nevis. But the partnership soon took a halt; we went to different jobs, seeking different goals. While I was hoping to influence and convince ship-captains who came into town, that I was a decent young boy who would be a useful crewmate. Ben had teamed up with a local gang, seeking the thrill and easiness of crime.  
  
Years went by, and while I had gone from the warehouse-boy to a bartender, Ben had become a leader for a small criminal group, consisting of 10-20 men. They did second-rate jobs for larger bands, and helped steal goods from merchants to lazy pirates.  
  
One day as I was walking around at the marked, I dumped into Ben. We talked, and the talk came towards our ever-growing lust for life on the sea and easy money. And after several hours we had come up with a cunning plan, which would surely secure a ship for us.  
  
Later that year I learned that a small sloop was heading for Port Royale with my tavern's homebred and renowned beer. I had made agreements with the captain and my boss, so that I would follow the beer from the storage room, and all the way to Port Royale. Everyone was pleased. The Captain could surely use an extra hand, and since it didn't cost him anything, he was thrilled. My boss saw this as a great way to get rid of my love for ships and for the sea. He had in fact made arrangements with the captain about several ways to mock and harass me. And I myself saw this as the change to finally get my own ship.  
I met Ben once again, and made him meet up with his gang at the storage house the night before the boarding of the ship.  
  
When I met them that night, my head was high, and my heart full of excitement and joy. I soon had filled 20 of the barrels with Ben's sturdy gang. And when the crew of the ship was loading the barrels onto the ship the next morning, I successfully managed to place the barrels that had my companions, out of reach and care from the others. I personally carried each of them into the boat, and placed them securely among the other barrels, in a way so that they wouldn't roll too much, and didn't point themselves out for any crew-member who tried to take a sip of the tasteful goods.  
  
We sailed for some days, with the ever flowing east wind blowing gently into our sails, and to my luck, no one of Ben's gang had been discovered when we past proud St.Kitts. And I was sure that no one had noticed me sneaking food from the supply barrels, and then stuffing it into seemingly beer barrels. I had absolute confidence when the last sight of St.Kitts disappeared from the horizon, and we all waited for the first view of the Virgin Islands, that my and Bens devious plan would work.  
  
We where a few days westwards from the Spanish Puerto Rico, with its powerful city of San Juan, in fact right of the coast of Isla Mona, when Bens gang was starting to get impatience, and my fellow crewmates and captain suspicious. I affirmed each of Ben's men that we would attack the next day, and if anything unusual should happen, like someone was being discovered, they should attack immediately. They should be alert for any attack for the next two days.  
  
I had just finished explaining the situation to the last man, and was carrying some food to them, when the captain, followed by his personal bodyguards, two stout and over muscled fellows, came down the ladder to the storage-deck. I momentarily dropped what I was holding in panic, and ran towards Ben's barrel, a row behind most of his men.  
  
I started whispering that he should attack now, but was interrupted before finishing my first word. The Captain demanded to know what I was doing down in the storage deck, and why I was dropping food onto the floor. I stood there completely quiet, and after my opinion hidden from sight from my captain, and hoped that he didn't see me. He walked slowly into sight. -Just as I thought, He said. -You are trying to sabotage us, starving us, so that some stinking pirate can pick up our ship without any fight.  
  
The captain's theory was comically close to the truth, but still far enough from reality. I could gain some time advancing, giving Ben and his men enough time to attack at the right way. No one would escape the storage- deck of the ship that day. I tried to make a lie about how the beer needed food to maintain its unique flavour, I did that while I knocked firmly at the barrels, so that the captain would believe that I was bragging about the beer, but it was in fact a very special form of communication that Ben and his gang understood.  
  
And as the captain's self good grin grew tired, I knocked so hard on Ben's barrel that it shattered, and pieces flied around the room. The fight began, the captain and his guards where soon killed. But sadly the fight had been too noisy, and soon crewmembers, hungry for fistfights where flying down the ladders, but as they only expected a quarrel between two crewmates concerning beer, or food.  
  
Most of them didn't carry any weapons, and were soon eliminated with longswords and cutlasses. The whole original crew of the ship, apart from me was killed during just some 10 to 15 minutes. Soon after we raised our proud flag, an English flag beaded in blood, it looked completely red.  
  
After some days of sailing beneath the Mona Passage, with our proud new ship, we reached Hispaniola. We sailed into Santo Domingo, and luckily managed to sell the suspicious looking blood-covered barrels of beer in exchange for a load of rum.  
  
I was made captain of the ship, and decided to mark our victory over the original crew, by selling the rum in Port Royale. Even though we would likely lose more gold than we gained, we figured that the reputation would easily make the trip worthwhile.  
  
We were closing towards the Jamaica Channel when I noticed something unusual in the captain's cabin. In the bed-chest, that I had at a prior occasion smashed the top of, to reveal something that might prove profitable, I noticed an iron box. It was right beside the keyhole of the chest, and was revealed to me under a rage that made me want to destroy the whole room; the iron box flew right into my bedside bottle of personal whisky, and smashed it.  
  
I angrily picked the box up, and was to throw it out the window, when I noticed a keyhole inside it. I wondered about this, and checked the chest, and to my surprise, it wasn't the lock to the chest I was holding but rather a tiny box, holding a secret that had to be useful. I searched around the room after the key, and finally found it inside a soft pillow on the captain's bed. My fingers trembled as I put the key inside the little box.  
  
I turned the key slightly and was thrilled to hear a little metallic click as the box opened. Inside the box I found a small piece of old yellow paper, firmly wrapped and packet to take minimum amount of place. I unfolded the little paper and soon discovered that it was a map, a map over one big island. It had a big red X marked on the north-eastern side of the island. As a side note it was written some kind of verse in the bottom left corner of the paper. -By a storm in the Bahamas Isles you will find the land of wonders and finally this isle. Ps. a recipe is not always for cooking food-.   
  
This was the very luck I had hoped to find on the high sea, stealing the goods of notorious pirates and villains from right under their noses, and I soon got my crew along with the idea, so we sailed north trough the Windward Passage, and headed towards Eleuthera.  
  
The rumours of treacherous reefs, and ever roaring storms wasn't just high bragging from captains who had survived the island chain of the Bahamas, it was truly a challenge to the most sturdy navigator, and a true nightmare to my crew, and pain to our new won ship.  
  
We where caught in a strong wind right after leaving the comfort of Great Inagua, and was blown towards the Crooked Island Passage, a passage only the most experienced captains could brag that they had sailed through unharmed. Our hopes of great wealth and life full of luxury were suddenly changed to the terror of coming death. We prayed for a harmonic afterlife, and watched in terror as we saw the wind engulfing clouds, turning them pitch-black, and gathering them around our small boat. Soon we were completely surrounded by blackness, a black fog that made even our bones shiver with fear for fates worse than death itself.  
  
The blackness loomed for several days, or maybe weeks, and the boat no longer tweaked and cried, and no rolling was noticed by any of us. It was like we had gradually slowed down to a final halt. All noise where stilled, and we had trouble communicating with each other.  
  
But after a two weeks, (by the reckoning of my first mate) things started to change. It was still dark as night, but a noise had started to engulf from the depths that surrounded us. A singular tone, that tempted us to dive out of the boat and into the blackness. Soon a light appeared from under the ship. We were still on water, and from the water a grey light flourished lightly. Then the singular tone changed and evolved to a simple line of music, which seemed to change the minds of my crew, and made them out-earthly. It was like the sea itself tempted them to dive into it. At least that was what I thought at first. It was like it was an accordion in the depths, trying to seduce them to jump over board.  
  
The next day the ship floated helplessly by itself. No man could work, and the crews minds where constantly on drift, mine too was starting to drift, I had to fight hard to maintain my consciousness. People started talking about their younger days, when they where innocent children. And soon the great wind came again, with its roaring whistle, and the sails once again started flapping. And with the wind there came rain. The wind brought a great storm that was throwing the boat around. The music grew louder and louder.  
  
Three nights and days, the ship rolled helplessly in the storm. Then the weather suddenly silenced, and sunshine replaced clouds and rain and wind. The music had stopped. We looked around, and too our great wonder our ship was right outside another greater storm, with clouds of grey and black that engulfed a whole area, all the way into the sea itself. And right in the middle, and in fact right before us, of this great storm there was a great hole that looked like a big archway, with a door of rain, and lists of human skulls.  
  
The storm, started slowly to surround the boat, and the clouds changed into a looming blackness. The crew panicked, and started raising the sail in hope of sailing away from the menacing storm. But then the music started again, louder than ever, and now the source of the music was perfectly clear. It came from the great archway. The crew dropped instantly the sail (as in a trance), and got themselves safely down into their sleeping deck. I was the only one standing left with the steering wheel in my hands, uninflected by the music, wondering what to do. Then as I saw out into the black gulf of coal black clouds, with thunders roaring and rain pouring, a voice came out from the door. It was a woman's voice.  
-You're ship stands on the doorstep of my empire and realm. What do you want?  
  
The voice said with a looming and commanding tone, with a voice that seemed to change the clouds as she spoke.  
-I want nothing from this land, my course is …..  
I didn't even have time to finish my reply before I was interrupted.  
  
-You seek secrets long forgotten. I can feel that. But mark my words. You won't succeed if you don't pass trough my kingdom.  
  
Lighting flashed and made the door look more menacing than ever.  
  
-Why would I want to enter your land? The place I am sailing to is hundreds of miles from this place.  
I shouted, interested in leaving the dreadful place as soon as possible.  
  
-You will never be safe if you refuse my realm. Your fortune as a pirate and treasure seeker will be doomed forever.   
  
The voice shouted, leaving me without hope of ever leaving the sight of the gate, unless I went trough it.  
-But still. The final decision is upon you, I will not force you to live in harmony in my realm if you don't want to.  
  
The voice ended.  
I didn't care from then on what happened, so I just let my body fall on the steering wheel. Then I collapsed when a knob on the wheel hit my chest.  
  
After an eternity in blackness, my eyes automatically opened. I remember strongly that it was automatically, because I did not in reality want to open them. One of my crewmates did, right after conscience had rescued me from my deep coma. And I had recognized the man who opened my eyes right before my face was flushed with salt water. The smell reminded me instantly where I was. Soon I was up and issuing commands. Then the sail was up and fluttering in the wind, and I was trying to find out our location, and if we where on the right course.  
  
The gate was like a dream and I tricked myself to believe it was so also. But I soon figured out that things where strangely more different than they had originally been. All maps except my treasure map, was destroyed. Only ashes were found where the maps were stored. Then as we had picked out the most possible man who could have destroyed the maps. I found out, to my great shock, that my mind was also different, and sweeter than before. Before I would have gladly have decapitated the terrorist. But now, the worst thing I could think of was to let him leave my ship. So I sent him away in a rowboat.  
  
My motivation to try and navigate the ship blindly in the Caribbean Sea, was as strong as an English pirate's love for a group of Spanish Pirate hunters. So I let the ship drift by it self.   
  
For the next two days, I talked to my crew and concluded that my dream was no dream, but the cold reality. We all agreed to try and defeat the evil sorceress that beheld our fate in her voodoo-filled fingers.  
  
In the early morning the third day after my arrival in the realm of this voodoo-lady, my lookout reported that land was in sight. We started loading our cannons, but to our surprise, all our gunpowder was soaking wet. No attack could be done onto the armada, that we saw engulfing the north side of the island. Our boat was rushed faster and faster, by the wind, towards the island and the cluster of boats, it was like our boat was driven by unearthly powers.  
  
To our great wonder and relief, no attack was made upon us. And we saw as we drove closer, that the cluster that we had assumed as an armada of ships protecting some major colony, was in fact a horde of shipwrecks. We hurriedly started to load the rowboats, but to our dismay, we noticed that all of them had major holes. We got closer and closer, some of the crewmembers stated that they had seen movements on some of the shipwrecks, and other claimed they saw skeletons dancing at the deck of a great merchantman, waiting for new corpses to feast upon.  
  
Then our proud ship crashed into the cluster, and we all collapsed. A long period of blackness, unbelievable for any normal coma came over me. It was like a sucking darkness that ripped every thought from your mind, and replaced them with milder versions of them. Hate where calmed down to a slight anger, love to a calm fondness. It was like all my thoughts were simplified.   
  
I knew that something was wrong, so I decided to not think of things that I knew I didn't want to be erased or thoughts that were to important to be calmed down. I started thinking about the making and brewing of my taverns ale. Soon I was into a long and disturbing meditation.  
  
Suddenly my eyes were granted their vision back. I was dazzled by the strong red light that burned into my eyes, but I could do nothing about it. My eyes where already closed, but the light that was shining on the lids of them, made a red haze that truly burned. I quickly put my hands in front of my face, and bowed towards the ground to block out the stinging pain.  
  
-Welcome mighty pirates!  
The voice was only too familiar to me; it was the sorceress that had lured me into this wicked land.  
It hadn't been a dream after all. I forced my eyes open, the light burned with an insane pain in my eyes, and all sight was blurred by a great whiteness. I drew my sword and charged towards her. Behind me, I could hear my crewmembers do the same. I had almost reached her, when my hand was twisted tree times around it self, I dropped my cutlass automatically. I heard the clash of other swords crashing into the ground behind me.  
  
-No weapons are allowed in my house.  
The woman said calmly.  
Then our sight came back, and we noticed that our weapons where destroyed beyond repair, they lay twisted on the floor, and soon they disappeared all together. I looked up, expecting to see a dreadful woman, that was about to make a final strike before we lay dead on her floor. The sight was far from expected. Before us on a stool of straw, a rather large woman with a round and merry face, sat and painted some voodoo dolls with grinning faces, and colourful hats. Different voodoo-artefacts and materials where piled all around her.  
  
A silence fell, she didn't even look upon us. At last I raised my voice.  
-You have drawn us here, and you refer us as violently pirates. I think you are mistaken, we are just humble traders, who were on a peaceful mission in recovery of a great treasure, when you forced us here.  
I tried to make my remark as proud, and trustworthy as possible.  
  
-You became pirates the moment you rebelled against your captain, and even if you planned to find a hidden treasure in these horrifying waters, I think that you wouldn't find any. And even if you did, you would soon have been arrested and hanged for Piracy against the English throne. Captain Jacob was as unlikely as it may seem, the cousin to the king's advisor. English pirate hunters would easily recognize his ship, and arrest you. And as with your accusing that I forced you here. You are wrong, and you know it in your heart, you let yourself decide. You yourself decided to fall on the steering wheel, and now you will live here for the rest of your life.  
  
This time her voice and face, expressed every situation, after her meaning and grade of them.  
A new silence fell while she added some final touches to the nose of one of the voodoo dolls. My men started mumbling behind me, and soon they where charging towards the voodoo lady. The effort was useless, before they even had arrived, she had grasped some blue ashes in a pot beside her, and blew it on my crew. The effect was momentarily, and very effective, they abruptly stopped, and greeted each other, as if they didn't know their lifelong friends. Only I was left untouched by the spell, maybe because I didn't inhale any of the ashes. But still I felt another brain sucking going trough me for an instant, much more violently and stronger, but my meditation momentarily kicked in.  
  
-To bad. I was hoping to learn some of your formerly lifes before sending you into the sweet life and memory of my realm.  
She mumbled to her self, but loud enough for us to hear.  
We were sent back to Woodtick, and we separated. But not before I was able to talk to every one of my crew-members. They all seemed as that they had had other pasts than they had in reality. And most of them thought I was crazy, trying to make them remember things that they had never experienced or done.  
  
Only my friend from Glasgow remembered something that was linked to his true past. He remembered that he had sailed with our ship, but he was claiming it to be a travelling bed and breakfast service for stranded pirates, and now after he had crashed the boat, he had opened the only inn at Scabb Island.  
  
I didn't like the feel of Scabb, so I teamed up with a man called Papa Dread, who claimed he was from Port Royale. We sailed people around what he called the tri-Island-area, (something that I had never seen before on any map, or ever heard of) just like a ferry.  
  
We sailed around for nine months, when Papa suddenly wanted to change course, we where then sailing a Mr. Sheepgood to Mêlée Island. Soon we where docked up in Scabb again. Apparently Papa Dread had had an affair with Mad Marty's daughter, and she was now about to have their child. The baby came, and it was a small baby boy. Soon we started making preparations for the trip towards Mêlée, but Papa seemed strangely disoriented, and rarely spoke to us. But finally one day in May he said the time had come to get going, or sailing.  
  
But after two days, with strange navigating and the feeling that the wind controlled the ship more than Dread did, we figured out when trying to serve him some soup, that Papa wasn't on board at all, he had strapped a rather confused monkey with his clothes to the ship's steering wheel. Suddenly we understood the meaning of the strange screams that always seemed to come from the captain's, quarter. Thinking back at the way Dread used to navigate before re-entering Scabb, I wondered if this always had been the true captain on the ship.  
  
But since I didn't know the way to Mêlée, I had to trust the monkey. I whispered –Mêlée. Into his brown hairy ear, before leaving the cabin, and hoped to survive the trip alive.  
  
And the rest you already know I think. I arrived yesterday here on Mêlée. And after a little argument with the police officer Marco Largo La Grande, I ended up with a night in jail. And so I was released by you in exchange for my story about the coming to this place.  
  
So there you have it, this is my all genuine pirate story. Are you pleased now?"  
Angus stopped talking, and emptied another mug of grog, the half melted mugs of former drinks had filled up the whole round table. He then looked at his listening companion.  
  
"What is this stuff?" Angus asked, pointing a shaking finger towards his grog and looking into the fast melting mug "It has the same sting as ordinary rum, but taste more watery, and with a whole bunch of other festive flavours. Much like my old taverns rootsandrum-soup made especially for women, I would say. And after dozens of drinks, I don't feel a slightest hint of drunkenness."  
The Governor smiled, and as he did so, his great beard revealed enormous heaps of food and grog.  
  
"Then you are more custom to alcohol than most people here "He replied, and rolled his eyes towards a table with a bunch of young pirates near the door, that sung drinking songs in blurry loud voices. "But you are right in your tongues observation. The hint of rum in grog is mostly because the original grog was just out watered rum. Later when people complained about the taste not being stiff enough, and to dull, the cook started adding additional ingredients, like battery acid to preserve the stiffness of rum, unfortunate the acid isn't to friendly towards our pewter mugs though, other ingredients was added to make the drink more likeable by more people, just like all the big companies do. Just like Coca Cola."  
  
"Coca what?" Angus asked and stared intently at the other mans face.  
"Eh.. What? Did you say something?" he asked and stared wildly around the room. Then he ordered the cook to throw out the other guests.  
  
The cook did as he was asked, and soon they where the only ones, except the cook that still remained in the bar.  
The cook stood silently at the door, resting his body against the doorframe, he looked as he was about to drop to the ground at any moment.  
  
"Governor!" he soon cried out, and walked quickly towards the table to gain the advantage of eye contact. His face was full of sweat, and he looked awfully tired.  
"Yea?" The Governor replied.  
  
"Are you finished now?" the cook asked.  
"Just go you, Rap. I will lock up when we're finished here"  
"Thanks a lot Marley." the cook thankfully choked out "You're a blessing to us all!"  
  
Then he threw his apron at a table near the door and left.  
"Well, I bet you want to know the real reason for me arresting you, and then letting you out just for a fair tale of your past?" Marley asked suddenly hoping to leave other subjects for later talks. And seeing Angus affirming nod he continued. "Your tale isn't new to this area, most people here have faced the same fate as you and your crewmembers. The problem is that most people don't remember their earlier days as you do.  
  
I only know four other than me, which managed to preserve their original soul, and memories, and that includes you. Now we are enough men to start plotting the death of the voodoo lady, but how and when is still a mystery. We must keep our secrets hidden, and keep our eyes on the Voodoo Lady's movements, everyone has a weak point, and no one is better to expose them than themselves.  
  
You should get a job. You can take Marco's job if you want to, it leaves you a great opportunity to talk much to the Voodoo Lady without her sensing any danger. I bet Marco will be more than happy to go to Scabb Island. He has gotten fairly tired of my constant begging that he should treat people better. On Scabb he will find a whole new marked for his hate towards humanity"  
  
"OK, I'll take the job." Angus answered "But only for a short time I hope. My true life is on the high sea."  
"As is mine boy" Marley laughed out "But we must be cautious to defeat the Voodoo Lady. Her powers is greater than you could possible imagine. We'll get our sailing done when the time is right."  
  
And so they ended their conversation and left the SCUMM bar, and they remembered to lock it before leaving.  
"By the way," Marley added, as they where heading towards the governors mansion, where Angus was to spend the night as a guest of importance. "Rap Scallion the cook that you met, is one of the other three." 


	2. The last outpost

The next day Angus was taught everything that he needed to know for his new police job, which in fact was quite an extending job for such a small island. He constantly had to prevent people picking some yellow flowers that grew in the woods, and investigate mysterious licking-"episodes" at the local shop (the shopkeeper was each morning, when opening and entering his shop, greeted by a random member of "Mêlée Island Society of Tasting", they had been bothering him for years and they all came with the same poorly made yoke "Just tasting the wares". The island also was a haven for pirates and brigands, who where wanted in the triisland centre. And as the police chief, Angus also had the part of organizing a "voluntary" defence- army that was going to command the cannons situated at the new built walls. Angus spent some hours going over all the plans, possible costs and how long time the rallying of men would be expected to take.  
  
He was later that day invited by Marley to meet the rest of the rebels of the VoodooLadys tyrannical rule. Angus gladly accepted a brake from the hard planning.   
Wearing a confident grin, Angus strolled alongside Marley, down the main street towards the SCUMMbar, clearly gleaming with pride over the many immense projects he was leading. He followed the Governor pass the SCUMMbar, and over the great dock. They stopped in front of a little hut at the end of this dock; it was in fact the last "house" of Mêlée Proper.  
  
Marley knocked a firm, melodic drum on the door, and it was slid open just enough for a young boy to get a peek at the arrivals. His first expression was quite horrid; he gave forth a mad grimace while howling like a crazy dog (this, Angus thought later, must have been the way the group scared away unwanted guests). But his mad-looking face soon transformed to a merry look when he saw Marley pop his head up next to Angus'. He quickly closed the door, several metallic sounds were then heard, and then opened the door just enough for Marley and Angus to enter.  
The hut was badly lightened, and the filthy walls were covered with posters splattered with "VoodooLady suck!", "Pirates forever, voodoo forNEVER!" and the likes. A map over the triisland area was laid upon the table, and each island was marked with different coloured writings. Scabb was covered red and marked "Voodoolady's hive, keep away!!!" other islands was marked with small key-words like "Open for discussion", "Governor under control of the VoodooLady" and "Demonical creature, changing of power, most likely VoodooLady".  
  
Angus had mixed feelings when looking around at this place, the young boy that had opened the door was now sitting next to it and drawing a new poster that was going to hang on the wall. It was very pretty, and had nice colouring. But even though the posters looked great, Angus was wondering about the value of making them, no one else except themselves would believe their tale about the evil VoodooLady anyway.   
Marley saw Angus' interest in the young boy and his drawings.´  
  
"So you have noticed our young artist?" Marley asked, walking closer to the boy, to look at the latest piece"I'm afraid the posters don't have any practical purpose, except to motivate us to continue to fight when days are becoming dark. But since it entertains our youngest member Mr. Lindy, I don't see any danger with them."  
"Pleased to meet you mister Lindy," Angus said, with a smile, as he gave the boy his hand. "I'm Angus McDow, the new police chief of this island."  
"Nice to meet you too Mister Angus" Lindy replied, as he heartily shook the others hand.  
  
"Well, we better leave Young Lindy to his drawings." Marley said suddenly, noticing that Lindy wanted to prevent a possible conversation between himself and Angus "And, it is also one last member that you haven't had the pleasure to meet. And I'm sure you'll have better conversation topics with this one than Lindy."  
Angus looked around the room, at first the only living thing he had seen in the hut was Lindy, but after his eyes had gotten better acquainted to the near pitching dark, which loomed in the shack, he now could see that in the far corner opposite from the door, a huddled individual was sitting and drinking mug after mug with some foul smelling liquid, the stench became clearer and clearer as Angus came closer to the creature. This creature was also rather poorly dressed, in stained clothes, which revealed that the man, who carried them didn't really care what other people thought of him. Angus couldn't even understand why Marley had this drunken wreck in his group.   
Angus took his hand forward to greet this unpromising future companion in the war against the VoodooLady, but wasn't greeted back; the other didn't even see Angus' friendly gesture.  
  
"No use in silent gesturing to this one. His rum is far more important to him, than boring conversations" Marley said, hoping that Angus didn't take the drunken man's lack of interest, as an insult. "Hey Rum! We have a new member."  
Rum, raised his greasy head, that was full of sweat after too many warming drinks on a rather warm day, and a smiling face appeared, with a great big red nose that greatly resembled a potato. He took forth a dirty hand, and greeted Angus.  
  
"Welcome to the group." Rum said when Angus took his hand and shook it. "I'm Rum Rogers, the most unlucky pirate on the seven seas."  
"Glad to meet you" Angus said, greatly pleased over the fact that this man wasn't as repulsive as he first thought he was. "I'm Angus, and just as unlucky as you I would believe."  
  
This last comment Angus added in hope for a more detailed description of this poor soul's misery, without asking in a way that forced him to share his sympathy.  
"Ha!" Rum shouted out, with eagerness high-pitched inside the tone of his voice, clearly wanting to justify his words "A English pirate, Colonel Smith, a rather cowardly captain with a reputation of fleeing when odds seemed against him, had at last found the golden egg..." Rum quickly started "He had surprised Maracaibo when both the Silver Train and the Treasure Fleet were in the normally calm and quiet colony. Smith had several ships, and 500 hundred men had joined the battle at his side. But only 60 were left standing when Smith finally could declare himself as the victor of the great battle. He had then 70000 gold pieces in his hold, and since he feared the pirates who obviously would guard every English port in the following months, he sailed towards the Bahamas Islands to bury his great wealth. But my captain at the time, Duke Benton, hoped to sail ahead of the rather inexperienced Smith, and wait for him at the Windward Passage.  
  
I myself had the job as a gunner. An inhuman job; or at least my post was. The name had a rather fine tone to it: "Junior Commander of Gunpowder for the Cannons", but the work was a nightmare. The night before the great storm (at the gates of the VoodooLady's realm), I was forced to clean a messed up cannon (the mess was in fact pork grease, which some joker had mixed with gunpowder and poured it into the cannons muzzle. When asked about the reason for this stupidity, he only answered that he hoped to make the ball fly faster trough the cannon). I was just finishing the inhuman job, at least for someone with my waist size, and was heading out of the cannons muzzle." Angus looked in disbelief at the large man in front of him, Rum saw the questioning look and quickly added "It was one of them mortar cannons. I don't know what use they have one a boat really; they are a pain in the backside to aim with. But anyway... I was heading out of its muzzle when someone with a great sense of humour, (personally I suspected the same clown that messed up the cannon in the first place) found out that it would be funny if they took away the top of the gunpowder barrel that I was using as a stepping board to get in and out of the cannon. Well, I fell into the barrel, and panicked since I didn't know what I had landed in. I had been sweating greatly when cleaning the inside of the cannon, and I got to tell you Mr. McDow, that sweating, and panicking inside a barrel of gunpowder isn't the most pleasant experience you could get into. I got gunpowder in every thinkable part of my body. Thinking back at it now, it is a wonder I even survived the first night. In fact, the only thing that saved me was my constant drinking of rum, to stabilize the dangerous minerals in the powder, and to get it out of my system. But even so, I had a hard time even breathing, and sometimes my lunges would stop completely.  
  
And that was what saved me when talking to the VoodooLady. My lunge stopped working right before she pushed that dreadful blue mind cleansing cloud at us. And the only thing that got my lungs working again was me falling trough the hole in her floor, when I was gasping for air and following my crew, and into the boat that transported us back to the border of the swamps. Then as we had returned to Woodtick, I noticed that my friends had changed. I spent my following days at some dreadful boat bar, drinking constantly to get all the gunpowder out of my body, and drowning my sorrow over my situation, later the latter became my prime motive for drinking. Then one day Mr. Marley came into the bar and questioned me about my past. And after telling him my sad and unlucky tale, he invited me to Mêlée.  
  
That was back in the time when we could travel freely in the triisland area, without fear of getting discovered by the VoodooLady, or her spies. I don't even think she had spies at that time." Rum stopped to empty yet another mug of rum. "But now, things are changed, and our battle seems in vain." He stopped at this last remark, and went back to his drinking, head bowed and clearly more miserable than before.  
  
"What happened?" Angus asked while turning towards Marley, as he understood that Rum wasn't likely to reveal more than he had "What forced you into this secrecy?"  
"Well I must somewhat put the blame upon my self" Marley started with grief painted upon his face, as if he with remorse recollected his memories around the situation.  
  
"Once, we were as free as any other pirate that she had lured into her realm, and our campaign (we were trying to take government over most of the islands) was very popular. Even the VoodooLady herself supported us for some time. But then as most elections got close, and we where trying to convince the most desolate inhabitants of the different isles, I got to the tree house to a hermit named Christopher Hendry on Booty Island. We had a long conversation concerning his previous life, and his future goal. Well to make a rather long story short... He gave me the suspicion that the VoodooLadys magical mindcleansing powder wasn't all invincible. This man had clearly swallowed the powder, but only half his memory was changed, (something that had made him into a schizophrenic madman, with constant quarrelling with himself upon what really happened at the VoodooLadys hive) when he entered the VoodooLadys Empire. I tried to convince him to see the truth. But his mind was so focused on the battle with himself, that when one of the sides got support from someone else, he lost the little sense he had left. He cried out like a monkey and crawled on the floor, and white fume was coming out of his mouth.´  
  
Well, I saw that the man needed help, but he was strongly built and rather big boned, so I knew I couldn't carry him myself. So I hurriedly ran back to the city, to get help from my comrades. But when I, Rum and Rap had returned to the tree hut, Christopher was gone.  
  
We stayed on Booty for some time, hoping Christopher soon would be found by the many people who were looking for him, in exchange for a small reward of gold from the Mêlée Bank. But we heard nothing of the lost man. And after a while we noticed a change in the inhabitants of Booty. They were becoming suspicious upon each other, and us. Especially us.  
  
Then Augustus, my old friend, and governor of Booty, arrested us. We then finally understood that our true purpose concerning the VoodooLady had been revealed. So we hurriedly escaped, and has never travelled outside Mêlée again." Marley shook his head in misery. "But what a grand escape it was!" a voice near the door said with a proud expression. Young Lindy closed the door, and then added: "A deed worthy of heroes." As a natural continuing to the cook's, who had just entered, words.  
  
Marley smiled a proud, but also bitter smile. "Yea! Your right Rap" Marley said "The souls who survived our escape from that dreadful prison dungeon, would surely give the VoodooLady a miserable and alarming description of us. Only three we where, and yet tens upon tens we killed only with our bare hands, before getting our hands on proper weapons. Then followed the bloodbath of her brain-dead army of civilians, and they where all armed with weapons, and willing to risk their own lives in exchange for the taking of ours. And when we finally had gotten into the only available boat, a little dinghy, we had to fight of rowboats after rowboat with boarding parties, (the nasty men and women threw the grapping-hooks, as if they hadn't done anything else their whole lives) to get to our own ship, that luckily hadn't been destroyed.  
  
We left a trail of blood after us all the way to the Skeleton Reef Pentagon." Marley stopped his tale at that point, staring miserably on the painted blood-trail that flowed from Booty and halfway towards Mêlée on the map.  
Angus somehow couldn't believe their tale, it seemed too unreal. But since so many things that previously would seem unreal to him, had in the latter days happened to him, he found it wisest to hold his misbelieve to himself.  
  
"But then the VoodooLady know who, and most likely where you are!" Angus said, after a moment in which he had digested the grim tale.  
Marley looked upon Angus, and smiled an as calming smile as he could muster.  
"My cheeks where bare of hair back then," He said, while brushing some food stains of his great beard. "but Rap, and Rum was pretty hairy."  
"Luckily for us the poor brainwashed people of Booty, has a poor memory." Rap said, as he was heading for a chair near the table containing the map over the isles.   
"A infect of the brainwashing I would say" Lindy commented from his corner "They have no memory of faces, or shapes and colour at all if they have been separated from the object for a day. Something that have made many a family with a sailing fader, quite sad" "That's right, they needed some painter to paint us, but he was arriving the next morning." Marley said. Then he sat down at the table and surveyed the map.  
  
They sat there like this for quite some time. Rum was drinking cup after cup with alcohol. Lindy was drawing some kind of picture on a large piece of wood, using diverse colours. And Rap and Marley where discussing the different isles and their weaknesses.   
At last Angus couldn't hold his thoughts, that after the wait had grown quite out of hand, for himself anymore, he openly declared his dismay over their situation:  
"I don't know what you plan to achieve with this rebellion. The defence of our current walls, are only a short time solution, and new walls would take years to built and destroy Mêlée's economy, and in any case, no wall can withstand forever." He said, hoping his words might seem wise. "What can we DO to cripple or destroy the VoodooLady right NOW?"  
  
"Well not much!" Said a voice loudly, from outside the hut.  
Rum, Rap and Marley saw with dreadfully faces upon the door as if they where expecting the VoodooLady herself to stand on the other side.  
Lindy hurriedly opened a gap, and saw out.  
"Marco!" he gasped. Then as he was about to close the door again, so that Marley and Rap, who always carried weapons could attack him, he was stopped by a pistol that was jammed trough the door gap, and aimed for the poor boys head.  
  
"Marco LaGrande!" the man holding the gun said, with great pride "The finest police chief this island ever had"  
"And the greatest spy the VoodooLady ever had the privilege to brainwash, I also believe" Marley said, not caring about the begging look upon Lindy's face, who hoped that no one would provoke the holder of the gun, which was aimed towards his precious artistically gifted brain.  
"That can so be that I was her spy." Marco said with a surprisingly calming tone when concerning the situation. "But I have never been brainwashed by that old witch, and as you probably have noticed. She pays her brainwashed people far less than she first promises them. Now I hope you would pay me the differential."  
"Why would we do such a foolish thing?" Rum shouted from his corner "That little boy is surely not worth MY bag of gold."  
  
Lindy gave Rum a sickening look that revealed that all hope of living trough the episode, was quickly leaving him.  
"Of course he isn't." Marco said, even calmer than before "But maybe your freedom is? There is still time enough for you to leave, but not if I keep my men at their shooting positions around the hut as they are now. Your little Booty-episode won't repeat itself here." Marco went silent a moment, to let the message fully sink into the trapped people inside the pity little hut "So what do you say? Is it a deal?"  
  
Rap, Rum and Angus looked with interest on Marley who was the natural man to make the decision, since he was the only one in the group who had any large amounts of money. Lindy only looked at the floor, hoping this nightmare would end soon.  
Marley looked back at each of the other for some time before declaring: "Yes it is." With a disappointing breath "How much do you demand?"  
"Oh not much," Macro said, while smacking his lips" three hundred pieces of eight, would suffice."  
  
"You will have it, you disgusting brigand." Marley said. Then he lifted up a loose floorboard, and opened a chest that was built into the ground. He took up 3 bags and threw them through the crack in the door. "I'll guess we won't need money anymore anyway, since our disguise is at last revealed." He explained when noticing Angus shocked expression.  
  
"I thank you for your wise decision Governor" Marco said, after collecting the bags. "I give you luck on your journeys, and your goal."  
Then Marco did what seemed the most unlikely to them all, he left.  
  
And so the rebellion left the hut, hurriedly collected a trustworthy crew (consisting mostly of servants of the governors mansion), and raised the sails to a proud barque named "Grog Villains Beauty". The cargo hold of the ship was already fitted for a long voyage; it was shipping supplies to Blood Island, some two weeks northeast. But since it already was Governor Marley's ship, they figured that the sleeping captain and crew wouldn't mind too much that they took it.  
  
They where just raising their sails and heading towards the now dawning sea, when they thought that they heard from the clouds, travelling slightly past Mt.Fracas(the largest mountain of Mêlée, and the host for the lookout tower), a voice blowing faintly:  
"Flee! Flee before the tides of doom are upon you! And succeed in your quests!"  
And so they left Mêlée Island, the long centre for the rebellion against the VoodooLady.  
They had good winds and where soon on the way southeast, they needed to get as far away the triisland centre as possible. 


	3. Winds of Hope

Mêlée was far away over the horizon as seen on The Grog Villains Beauty, when the sun greeted the lookout, half sleeping on his duty, on the small Sloop.  
Young Lindy had happily agreed to be the first man, who had his duty with the steering wheel. Meanwhile Rum had taken a nap, Rap was going through the goods stored up in the cargo hold and Angus and Marley sat in the captain's quarters, discussing their situation.  
  
"I have to be true to you Angus." Marley started, after emptying a cup of rum "This escape seemed as a folly when we sailed out of the Mêlée harbours. But after serious consideration, I've got hopes in this journey, if only we can outrun our followers."  
  
"Oh?" Angus answered with a sarcastic undertone, disbelieving that Governor, now Captain Marley could possibly have found a solution for their grim situation.  
"Well," Marley started, picking up a map from the floor. "we are here," He pointed a dirty finger at a small group of islands west of Long Island, and south of Exuma Sound and the English colony of Eleuthera. "If we can outrun the VoodooLady's frigates, we could get help in Eleuthera. My brother has many "Good" friends, among the local captains. He was quite a giver of Letters of Marque last I heard from him, and he wasn't sparse with military titles either. And Nassau..." Angus clearly marked his dismay over just the mention of the place" Yea. It's one of the worst pirate anchorages in the whole West Indies.   
  
But what choices do we have? And also, some of the more "respectable" Buccaneers owe me quite some favours, I often helped Nassau quite extensively in the beginning, before the closing of the sea that is. So I believe that we could muster a little fleet from just that place, multiplied with approximately 2 from Eleuthera..." Marley stopped talking, and did some heavy calculations, it seemed. "Ah, yes of course!" He suddenly burst out. "Florida Keys! They're so crammed full of pirates, Buccaneers, and other scum that it is nearly embarrassing for the whole West Indies, and now in the fall, they'll be dying for new booty, unless the Treasure Fleet is extremely late season." Angus swallowed deep. "Not going so good eh?" Marley thought aloud, while fiddling with his great beard "Well, we could drag some ships out of the place, right?"  
  
"Well, the Florida Keys are not as thriving as they where in the forties Captain. Many an attack from the Spanish, and minimal successful raids on the Treasure Fleet, has nearly made the keys deserted. I think you should think of the French colony of Tortuga, It actually far exceeds the Keys as a gathering place for privateers. It is truly a heaven for privateers and the likes. But they might be picky with the prices. The times have never been better for pirating. Spain's colonies are so poorly defended, that a ship loaded with monkeys could sack one of them. I've heard stories about pirate raids, where the captain just had to stick his ugly face over the fortifications, and every soldier would flee with the governor closely behind. You would actually have severe problems with prices nowadays." Angus said, clearly remembering the many happy sailors, waiting for another killing spree over the Terra Firma.   
  
"Ah! Money, you don't need to worry about such trifles." Marley said proudly "I got some reserves tucked up in some caves..."  
"I hope so." Angus said doubtfully.  
At that moment they could hear yelling at the deck, and soon a frantic knocking on the door.   
"What?!" yelled Marley, not pleased over the lack of respect to a fine oak door.  
  
The door opened with a crash, making a clear bulk in the oak plating in the wall, to the clear disliking to Marley, and in came Young Lindy with eyes almost out of his head.  
"Yea?" said Marley slowly, in a tone that discouraged any jokes from the young boy.  
  
"You must come on deck and see this Captain!" Lindy said with rushed words, full of amazement. "It's like a being of it self." They followed Lindy up to the deck. "I didn't want to disturb you about a feeble little cloud, although it is strange. But as I was drawing it, I changed course, and as I did so, the cloud also did the same. I have changed course numerous of times now, but the cloud always position itself on the Broad Beam Reach of the ship." (Approx. 60 degrees from the mast in backward position, on either starboard or port)   
Angus was furious by hearing this.  
  
"You must be crazy boy! The winds come from the direction of that cloud." he yelled to the young boy. "Here the Goddess of Winds gives us a little gift, and you insult her with trying to stay clear of the wind... This is a Sloop, you stupid scab, and you have been trying to slow her down with your reckless sailing. The broad beam reach is her sweet spot, the side on which the wind must blow to fully make use of the sails, and here you try to navigate it everywhere possible except that spot... If I were the Captain, you would have been keelhauled this instant!"   
Lindy was terrified, and could not focus on anything else than his drawing of the great, but quite strange cloud.   
Captain Marley looked down from the cloud that has captured his complete focus trough the entire outburst from Angus. Now his mind returned to the ship, and he hated himself for not stopping Angus in time, and he looked upon Lindy with great pity.  
  
"And that is why you aren't the captain." Marley said, with a laugh (aimed at Lindy) mixed with an angry scowl at Angus "Young Lindy made the right decision after my opinion. We don't know if this cloud is our friend or foe yet. And look, it is still mustering strength." They looked at the cloud, and could see that the whole sea underneath it fumed, as if the ocean it self was boiling. "And see ahead," Marley continued "there also is a cloud coming towards our prow. We should be patient but wary about this cloud."   
Later that day Captain Marley ordered Angus into his quarters.  
  
"Welcome" Marley greeted the Scotsman, and bade him sit down and take as much as he wanted from the mug of grog on the table, then he continued " I want to talk with you about your comments to Lindy about his navigation..."  
"I'm sorry if my views don't fit yours Captain" Angus said, with spit full of anger flying all over the place "But trying NOT to gain the most of our sails, just seemed like folly. Even I..." He was interrupted by Marley before he could complete his sentence.  
  
"It is not your disapproval of his navigation in its self, that I am going to talk with you about" Marley said, in a tone as friendly as possible, trying not to set afire any sparks that still could glow in Angus' mind "The problem is the way you talked to him. Remember that he is just a kid."  
  
"Remember that he must grow up." Angus nastily spat back.  
"I don't see what yelling at him, has anything to do with him growing up." Marley said, irritated over the complete lack of understanding from Angus' part.  
"He got to learn that reality isn't just cosy life, where he doesn't have to wonder about a thing." Angus started, he was clearly repulsed over the thought of Lindy's easy life "The only proper work he does is drawing those pictures. I don't see why you brought him with you at all. If you wanted an illustrator, I bet that tens of other people could have done just as good as Lindy and still be doing a better sailing job."  
"It IS his first time working on a ship." Marley said, trying to defend Lindy's lack of thought when handling the steering wheel.  
  
"Even more the reason for teaching him the true world" Angus said, seeing a hole in Marley's defence. "He won't find any captain who will be understanding towards his mistakes in the future, so why not teach him the lessons as soon as possible. That way he won't be disappointed in later life."  
  
Angus had hit the Captain's soft spot, and he could see it in Marley's eyes. He could see the conflict that had bothered the Captain throughout the journey so far.  
"I can't." Marley answered after a silent break "I just can't yell at him without proper reason, and I can assure you that none of the others would neither (he referred to Rap, and Rum, of course). He is dear to me. Like a son, and I truly see him like a son. You know of all the stories from the travelling trough the waters of this realm; I believe his must be the saddest. Even the way we found out our story was tragic; we had to force it out of his parents." Marley stopped, hoping Angus would have enough understanding to listen at his story and think it trough.  
  
"Go on." Angus said interested.  
"Well, it happened just by chance that we came upon their ship really. It was a proud English Pinnace named "Duckling" manned by a crew of traders, which consisted of members from just one family we believe. (We don't know if their names where Lindy or anything, we just saw that name noted on their boxes: "Mr.Lindy's fine rum", so it might even be their customers.) But anyway, this was just east of Booty. And it was before the Booty Massacre, so we thought that we'd better pay the Pinnace a welcome and talk about politics. We came alongside them, and just as we had come close enough for a cosy little chat, we heard a woman scream, followed by a children's cry. Oh well, we though, a bit of bad timing maybe? But the strange thing was that the child's crying wouldn't stop, and neither would anyone answer our calls. Well you don't have to be a genius to understand that something was wrong. So we quickly climbed into their Pinnace, and going down deck, we saw a nightmare come true. There the whole family was huddled into a corner with great disgust, and sickness in their eyes, while the newborn baby was left alone unclean on the floor. We asked them about the situation, and they answered strangely that it was the mother's fault and that she should clean it up, but the mother only pleaded that we should clean the mess up, since she had a very sensitive nose. Well, since we couldn't get anything out of them without taking away the baby, we carried him to our boat for the moment, where Rap cleaned and fed him.  
  
After we had taken the baby away, the mother started cleaning up the mess that was left on the floor, and she clearly marked her disgust in doing so, holding her hand to her nose all the time. We talked to the other members of the family while the mother was cleaning, and it seemed that they believed that the baby was her "most personal trash" and they where all shocked over that she couldn't press it over the rail when she dropped it, but had to insist on doing it down deck.   
  
We tried to get more information out of them, but all we got was cryptic messages like, -great black cloud singing and dances in England the grand. And then they went around talking about their childhoods in Birmingham.  
We just saw this as another tragic result of the VoodooLady's power over the realm, and we found out that if the child was to survive we had to keep it ourselves.   
So we sailed away from the Duckling while holding the child in our arms. And we looked with disgust upon the mast of the Duckling as it disappeared from our sight over the horizon, and ever since we have watched over that child. And we called him simple enough Young Lindy, after those crates I told you about earlier.  
  
So you must understand Angus; that I can't yell at him for simple things as sailing, even if it would be necessary. You might do it yourself, but that would only destroy the kid's opinion of you personally I think, since no one would support your side of the story. But neither will we prevent you from yelling at him. So you can choose yourself, what to do."  
  
"I can understand your kind heart." Angus said, slowly thinking trough the whole aspect of the tale "But it might be a terrible mistake from your part. 'Cause beware, people who always get their wishes without a fight, seldom gains any true holdings to any people. Their own gains are always most important for them, because that is what they are thought to seek by all means.   
And concerning my own behaviour towards Lindy In the future... We will see what I'll do."  
  
"Then I'll ask you to please leave my quarters Mr. McDow" Marley said, clearly thoughtful over what Angus had said. "I got to get some sleep. The waves are tempting me to rest forever it seems." That last comment he added with a smile, hoping to extinguish any anger between them.  
"I know what you mean Captain" Angus said with a smile, happily playing along to hide his disagreement with the man's way's to handle children. "When I got to Nevis after crossing the Atlantic, I couldn't sleep for a week; I missed the calming waves so much." And with that Angus went to bed, and forgot his anger for a time. But Marley laid long awake, thinking about Lindy, and what his future might be when he was no longer any protection to him. But at the end he fall to sleep, and had a quite disturbing dream, whereas Lindy stabbed him in with the tip of his own duelling rapier.   
  
But in the morning all seemed well, and Marley turned his thoughts against the two strange clouds, and he asked the crew to keep watch on them.  
And so they sat in turns day and night, and watched the clouds muster, and closing. For three days they saw this creation of weather, before on midday the fourth day, the cloud mustering from the waves (behind of them) laid it self gentle but stern, right behind Broad Beam Reach. And the cloud ahead of them, laid itself Close-Hauled Beam Reach (exactly opposite direction from the back driving cloud at Broad Beam Reach), and then they felt the warm, but strong, breeze from the back driving cloud. And they could clearly see snow fall from the cloud ahead. The waters in front of them where in fact full of hurriedly melting snow as they sailed over it. Pictures of these two clouds, was Lindy's main occupation for the few weeks with the two clouds.   
  
And as Marley understood that whatever the path they choose the clouds would follow them and giving them a friendly push, he astounded, but happy welcomed Angus belief in the gift from "the Goddess of Winds ". And they never saw any sight of any of the VoodooLady's ships.  
  
But the truth about the weather was not theirs to know, at least not for certain, even the VoodooLady did not understand it until much later...  
The Goddess of the winds indeed seemed to be on their side in this quarrel. And in reality she was, but not as "The Goddess of Winds", but with the most peculiar name of Aunt Helen.  
  
The only thing that is clear, is that tired of the constant fights with the voodoo filled fumes of smoke that often arose from Scabb and other islands, Aunt Helen had found her last remaining hope in the small ship of rebels named Grog Villains Beauty. She felt that that little gang of 5 mortal men, and their crew, could be her salvation in her fights, which she soon would loose, she knew if not the VoodooLady was properly destroyed. So she pushed and huffed, and let much of her remaining powers be in that little miracle that occurred in the midst of the oceans around the small Sloop.  
  
She felt that with her help, they were sure to succeed, and finally after rallying people from the outside colonies, wage a grand war, that surely would destroy the VoodooLady for ever.  
  
And this might have happened. Angus McDow, Young Lindy, Rap Scallion, Rum Rogers and Captain Marley could (with trouble of course) have made it to the borders, and passed them, if it hasn't been for that very help that was granted them. But for the moment, they where delighted (some of them at least) of their futures, in high hopes, and was heavily into the tactics that they would surely use when they returned to claim back the lands.  
But alas, that fight was never meant to happen. For a force much grander than both the VoodooLady, and Aunt Helen was working with its own mind, with tactics unknown to all. The Grand Ruler of Doom, the writer of destinies, Deston had made his own twist of the story.  
  
And so, as the Grog villains Beauty, was sailing with perfect winds, and with a crew in high hopes steering it, a Spanish War Galleon was entering the borders to the realm of the VoodooLady. The ship contained Pirate hunters, and they desired to find a notorious murderer named Stew Bram.   
  
This foul and spineless murderer, had food poisoned dozens of Spanish Colonies on Terra Firma, and had acted his grim trade with most food sorts known to man.   
His most successful poisoning was his Baccalao Finale, which terminated the entire upper class of Puerto Bello, causing civil disorder, and destroying the defences of the once proud city, making it possible for numerous of pirates to easily rob the colony for its riches.   
  
But his most renowned poisoning was definitely The "Heated Weenie" Massacre, which depopulated the entire colony of Puerto Calabaza. A colony founded by a relatively poor merchant who had been fooled by a gang of Indians to buy a shipload of "precious" seeds. The man was moments later attacked by a pirate, by pure luck he defeated the pirate, and was granted lands by the governor of Coro. So he built a plantation, and ended up with pumpkins, and he started exporting them, but he didn't really make much money with his farm. Then one day he found gold in a stream near his house, later it was clear that it came from the mountains nearby. And so the colony grew larger and larger, and so the gold disappeared, and the people who were left from the gold rush (A couple of thousands) hoped to gain new ways to gain income. And thus desperate of alternative ways to gain income, they managed to distil a more intoxicating drink than any man had ever tasted before... And just after the first shipload had sailed out of their port, and met astonished buyers, they got a shipment of sausages (as payment for a trade deal from one of the colonies), accompanied by a chef who would prepare them in the proper way.  
  
This chef was Stew Bram, and he went from door to door with his hot tasty poisonous sausages. And by the next day, not a man was left alive, children and women had stopped breathing in the middle of the night, and all thought the sausages tasted good, but that the nutty aftertaste was kind of too much. Only one man was left to tell the poor colonists' tale, Cortez the man who had founded the colony (he had been at a meeting that afternoon, and had arrived just after his family had eaten their meals). But even so, Cortez only survived long enough for him to write the dreadful episode down in his diary, after that he mysteriously disappeared. No trace of the liquors was ever found in Puerto Calabaza, neither the manuals to how one might distil any of it. The only trace ever found of the brew, was numerous of bottles sold in dark back alleys in Havana, at extremely high prizes.   
  
After that incident, Stew Bram became infamous, and every tavern owner in Spanish America feared even his name. The War Galleon had, therefore one singular goal, to find this murderer, and bring him to Maracaibo, either alive or dead, so that his head forever would hang on a spike, bowing gently to the Spanish flag.  
  
The captain of the war galleon was an Admiral named of Alonzo Hernando He was the kind of man who easily could slaughter a village populated only with women and children, if they stood in his way for completion of a quest. He heeded therefore little the unpromising looks of the great storms that greeted him on his way towards Eleuthera. His head was too full of anger over his so far unlucky quests, to notice anything wrong with the weather around him as he entered the Voodoo Empire by a South-Eastern gate.  
  
And he was then on a collision course with the Grog Villains Beauty, since he was drawn North-West to get brainwashed along with his crewmembers on Scabb Island. And as the dark and stormbursting winds controlled and manufactured by the VoodooLady for the transportation of the war galleon, met the natural winds of Aunt Helen, there developed, in the clash of the two great forces, a great storm as which never has nor never again shall be seen. There, in the southern realm of the Voodoolady, the second fight against the High Sorceress of all Voodoo-like was fought (the first one, being the rebels' escape from Booty).   
  
Waves upon waves, threatened to smash the other ships to destruction. But since each power wanted their goods safe, none where harmed; none on Grog Villains Beauty, neither none on the War Galleon.   
  
And in the midst of that night, Lindy awoke. And crying in panicking fear, he awoke the rest of the crew. They all stumbled up from their beds, and the sight that met them on deck was something dreadful that they had never seen before, nor would ever again in any future. Lindy sat down and started drawing right away.  
"Hey!" Shouted Angus, he could hardly believe the easygoing mind of the young boy "Aren't you going to help us?"  
  
"Do I have to?" Lindy asked, with a pleading look at Captain Marley with eyes wide open, as if he where an innocent infant.  
  
"Well..." Marley dragged the answer, understanding that people would be disappointed at whatever he might say. "These waves ARE quite large" He said after a while of thought. "And I would be more pleased to see you safely under the deck, than sitting here in the middle of the storm"  
  
Lindy tried to object, but Marley's expression quickly made him silent. Captain Marley, followed by Angus, went towards the prow of the boat, and then Angus heard Lindy whisper to Rum. "You won't tell anything to Marley would you? I'm going to the cannon-place to draw some pictures." Angus was furious; the little kid had more nerve than he thought. He quickly stepped over to Rum and Lindy, grasped Lindy's neck with a strong arm and threw the boy down deck. "And stay down there!" He shouted after him, as he barred the door. Rum looked at Angus with curious eyes, and angry scowl. "Why on earth did you do that?" Rum asked, clearly bothered greatly over the mistreating of the poor boy.  
  
"Because it was needed." Angus said, and started to walk away.  
"And why is that?" Rum asked. "What possible need could it be to throw a poor young boy down a staircase?" Rum had raised his hands up to his hip, as in preparation for a shootout of words.  
"He was ordered to go downstairs, and remain there." Angus said. "And by disobeying the Captains orders, and trying to drag you into his evil schemed plot, he deserves whip lashes. But I'm not a brutal man."  
"Brutal enough." Rum said while going away, displeased with the way Angus dealt with things.  
  
"When it is needed that is" Angus shouted after him, in a tone which hinted to regret, but it soon passed. "Bah! They are cursing his life, and their selves'. From now on they can do whatever pleases themselves. Their lack of understanding is their undoing, and I should not be a part of it. At least no longer than I have to" He thought to himself, as he strolled towards the prow where Marley was waving commands to the men in the mast.  
"Angus!" Marley shouted in a wondered voice "I can't figure out these sails."  
  
"Among other things" Angus muttered low, and in a scowl "What seems to be the problem?" He then added much merrier and higher.  
"Problem? Well, I wouldn't actually say problem" Marley answered looking up at the sails "Not at the moment that is." Angus too, looked up and saw that none of the sails seemed to have the slightest winds in them. It was like the sails where surrounded by a windless environment, and they just hanged low without life it seemed. The only time they moved was when the ship rolled.   
"What do you think?" asked Marley, truly puzzled over the whole situation.  
  
"I think." Said Angus, waving his hand calmly around for some time "That it is also quite strange that not a single drop of water has hit the boat yet. Look the planks are crispy dry."  
Marley looked down, and it was true. He spitted on the darkest plank he could see, and instantly saw the change, and that the plank almost sucked the spit in itself as if it had been in a desert.  
  
"This is most strange" Marley said, as he thought over the situation. "And I really don't know what to make out of it." He reached his hand into the storm, and he cold see how the raindrops shifted course so that none hit his arm. But that could just be a trick of the winds, or eyes for that matter he knew.  
  
"I think that we should once again keep guard and lower the sails. We have no control over our situation in this storm, or the storm it self." Marley said, while waving his arms in the right directions for the ordering of sail lowering.  
"I'll take the first watch." Angus said, hoping to avoid the spoiled kid he knew that he would find down deck.  
"All right!" Marley said, patting him on the shoulder. He believed that Angus did it out of sacrifice. "I myself will go to bed. Good night, and please wake me when your shift is over, since I want to take the next one" And then Marley left Angus to his sinister thoughts.  
And they held guard over the storm through night and day...  
  
The fight was hard, and bitter, Aunt Helen, finally eyeing a forced departure from one of her kingdoms, was truly panicking and dashing out her most powerful strikes and blasts. But the Voodoolady was more cunning than such. She only backed of the worst strikes, and ducked away from the heavy blows. And later, as Aunt Helens powers where diminishing, The VoodooLady put forth her destructive powers for REAL. Fort came tornados, and hurricanes, and dread to all not under protection of the VoodooLady.  
  
Then tired, and finally understanding at last that her fight was lost, Aunt Helen moved most of her remaining powers to the secret kingdom in the skies. And there she was a long time, before fate chose the final departure for her. There she looked after the land, but since she was so diminished, she never could defend it, at least not properly. There she eyed the Voodoo Empire with remorse, remembering the fair times of the land, when the islands weren't darkened by ash-full clouds of thunder and lightning, and dread was not in every creature's souls. Only a small fragment of her power she left the Grog Villains Beauty, so it shouldn't at least sink.  
  
And then feeling nature's departure from the land, the VoodooLady added a final blow towards the Mother of clouds and winds. A great shock-wave, flowed out of a grand lightning, and all the remaining powers which protected the Grog Villains Beauty, was ultimately destructed. And feeling at last the victory, the VoodooLady silenced her winds. And let only the slow waves draw the grand War Galleon towards Scabb. And there it would, after her designs, reside as a symbol of her final victory, and her supreme rule over the area.  
  
Rum, Angus, Rap, and the Captain was having breakfast in the captain's quarters when the door suddenly burst open. Marley seeing at last, the oak plating in the wall crack, looked curious and slightly madly at Lindy who rushed into the room with eyes full of terror.  
  
"Shouldn't you be on guard?" Angus spitted at him as he saw the drawings that he held firmly in his hands.  
The others looked surprised at Angus, and couldn't believe that his disliking of the boy had gone so far. But Angus only saw this as just another proof to his judgment of their relation to the boy.  
  
"Well, what is it then?" Marley asked, in a much lighter and happier tone than Angus'. He had soon forgotten his anger over the broken oak.  
  
"I really hope that he was mistaken, but it looked large from my view..." Lindy stammered out.  
"What?" Angus asked, tired of the long waiting for what was surely a short message.  
"Eh," Lindy said, while his eyes sought after a calming resting place "A Spanish War Galleon, heading directly at us."  
  
"What?!" Marley shouted out. His eyes got blank, and as he turned against the others he saw that they're expressions where likewise. Rum had spitted out his mouthful of rum while dropping the half full mug in his hand. Rap sat completely still, with his mouth open as to greet the food that his hand was about to put into it, but the food never reached the mouth, Rap was completely frozen. Angus had just taken a quite large bit of Rap's soaked fish, and had chewed most of it, but now it just poured out of his mouth and back unto the platter. "Well why did you not tell us before?" Marley finally choked out in fearful disbelief over their situation.  
"I didn't want to disturb your breakfast..." 


	4. Compliments to the Chef

Angus smiled slyly when hearing Lindy exclaim his reason for delay. He was now sure that Marley had finally found a reason that even HE could see fitting for a beating. Angus was eyeing the situation that had completely stilled the cabin; he laughed silently for himself by the sight of the irresolute captain who frantically fiddled with his beard, while manically trying to find a solution to his situation.  
  
Angus knew that this might be the breakthrough for the captain, and sat completely still like a vulture, waiting to see what happened. His smile slowly disappeared. The last thing he wanted was to influence Captain Marley. He could see the captain was searching for words, and indeed the right mood too. At times his face moved towards pity, and at times towards anger. The latter was the most prominent expression when Angus began to fear the other men in the cabin. Then indeed, when Marley had just started to open his mouth while his gaze and face was full of anger and indeed hate, Rum spoke up, with the most pitiful face Angus had ever seen.  
  
"Oh Lindy! We can understand." He said while smiling, an understanding smile at the young boy. "After your last experience with coming into this office with news, we can all understand your fear for interruptions. If Angus hadn't been here though, things might have been different..." The speculations that Rum had aired were horrifying to Angus' ears. However, most of all he hated the fact that Rum had ruined Captain Marley's only possible change to discipline the young boy. It was with a torn face of grief and hate that he walked slowly past Lindy, who looked at him haughtily. He pulled the door after himself with a slam as his anger overwhelmed his sorrow.  
  
Then with anger, he quickly rallied the crewmembers, and gave them orders to load the six rather beaten up cannons. Angus was prepared to shoot his way past the grand obstacle, he knew that there were only two favourable choices, to escape or die trying! If they where captured, their quest was surely doomed. He had just gotten confirmation of the loading of the cannons, and was ordering the hoisting of the sails: "And remember!" he cried loudly to a rather young boy at the steering wheel, "Never let her broadside look at theirs"   
"Aye aye, sir!" the boy replied solemnly, fully prepared to sail the ship to his grave, if that was his doom.   
At that moment, Captain Marley came out of his quarters.  
Angus pretended to have forgotten the captain's previous failure, and thus he gladly greeted him.  
  
"Oh great, Captain" He said with a sincere smile "I have ordered the men to hoist the sails, and cannons are already loaded. With a bit of luck I think we might be able to squeeze past her."  
Marley answered the enthusiastic Scotsman with a cold stare, almost hateful.  
  
"Who have asked you to do this?" Marley bellowed out in great anger. The unexpected yelling surprised Angus. He only looked puzzled at the captain. "You must be the most foolish sheep-head that has ever lived in the highlands... Fighting against a War Galleon with a Sloop is suicide, even if she is fully manned. Your folly is your undoing I say; never again will you have any control over any part of this ship, and as soon we get to land, you are on your own. And don't except any explanation for your banishment, your actions speak for themselves Angus McDow."  
  
Angus lost his breath; he could not believe what had just happened. That is, he could not believe it before seeing the content grin upon Young Lindy's face. The young boy practically gleamed of gladness. All the others had angry stares pointed towards him. Marley then ordered the lowering of the sails, and unloading of the cannons, while hoisting white banners to show their surrender.  
  
Angus looked with wonder and dread upon all that happened around him. He could not believe that a man that had escaped from a village full of murderous living zombies could surrender so easily now when their success was so near. He could only blame Lindy he guessed, and he found it nearly comical that Marley had been so correct when they discussed the matters of the boy. Lindy had clearly disliked Angus, and had thus convinced the others to see likewise on the matter. Angus was now alone. The rebels of the voodooLady were surely going to die. He could not help thinking about the origins of Lindy, and the possibility that Lindy was brainwashed. He had never talked about that with Marley, and now he never could either. First when hearing the story he believed that since Lindy was born after the family had entered the realm, and before they were brainwashed, he was unaffected by the powers that the VoodooLady had over the population. Now, seeing what this little boy had mastered, he wondered if this boy could have been brainwashed from the start. The boat could be a decoy, sailing the waters in a way that was SUPPOSED to look like newcomers, while they were brainwashed weeks ago.  
  
Maybe being born in the realm, the child was automatically a slave for the VoodooLady. The thoughts invaded Angus' mind, and the one was worse than the other was, and at the end he had horrid visions of this boy as a product of pure evil, with one solemn purpose, to sow faith and then brutally destroy it. Angus did not even know what to do anymore. His role in the gang was now gone, and so was the complete rebel-gang at all it seemed. He toyed with the lust for escape. He could use the little which rowboat that fastened by a rope to the stern of the ship. No, he knew that while the others had such hate for him, his life would be at stake if he tried such a bold act. He once again studied his former companions: Marley looked sad, but strongly determined. He held his strong hands upon Lindy's shoulders. This boy again, gleamed with pride, he smiled openly, and once and again, he looked back at Angus and laughed mockingly at him. Rum was angered and drank fast and with few and short brakes.  
  
He constantly threatened Angus, and cursed his name and all his clan for the terror he had inflicted upon poor young Lindy. Rap was the only one who seemed overly dismayed by the complete situation. He clearly disliked the other ship, and it seemed that he also disapproved of the exclusion of Angus. After a short while he kindly asked Lindy to make them some stew; but since Lindy refused, and the others wouldn't mind some stew, Rap was himself forced to go to the galley and make it. Angus noted that Rap even more disliked this. He really felt sorry for the chef as he with panic-stricken eyes walked with shaking feet down the staircase.  
  
The next moment the War Galleon had struck her broad side against The Grog Villains Beauty's side, and men upon men jumped down on the sloop's deck. The men were horrifying to look on, their faces were perverted, and many of them talked to themselves, mostly about their mothers and families. Angus shook his head in dismay; their glorious captain had led them into the hands of lunatics. The leader of the squad stopped right in front of Captain Marley and gave him a piece of paper. Marley read it while the leader for the Spanish men turned and tried to silence his men, then he again turned towards Marley with an expressionless face, and misty deep eyes.  
  
"It is an arrest order." Marley said, while reading it. "They're looking for a man named Stew Bram..."   
"The horrible murderer who depopulated most of the Spanish colonies on Terra Firma?" Rum asked, while his eyes grew wide open, he had heard numerous of grim stories about this man.  
  
"Well, this paper only describes two major poisonings." Marley said, while noting Rum's disappointment "Anyway, we are surely not guilty in these crimes, but the paper states that we are to be arrested just the same. We must explain our innocence." Marley looked around after something "Angus! Go and get Rap!" He finally shouted.  
"Aye Aye sir!" Angus muttered out, and went down to the galley. When he got down, he heard the muttering of Rap.  
"Rap!" Angus yelled, knowing that time was sparse "The captain wants you on deck" he clearly added a venomous pressure on the word captain.  
  
"Why?" Rap asked, with a hint of fear. "Can't you see that I am busy?" He clearly showed that he was cooking, by stirring in great circles in the stew.  
"There seems to be some kind of language problem with our guests." Angus answered trying not to distress the chef "And unrightful assumptions. They claim that one Stew Bram is on this ship, and..." Rap froze immediately when hearing the name, Angus continued slowly, while following Rap's reactions. "And they plan to capture the whole crew until they have found out who of us it might be. So we need you to explain that this man isn't aboard."   
Rap clearly disliked the task that they appointed to him, and he pleaded Angus to go back alone.  
  
"You must do this Rap." Angus wondered greatly over the reaction of the cook, who now was truly petrified "You're the only one on the ship who understands Spanish."  
"Then how did the captain know what the Dons where after?" Angus asked, suspicious over their dear captain's motives. "Are you sure Marley can't speak some lines?"  
"I got a glance at the paper, and it seemed to be written in port by a skilled hand, a governor most probably. And it also got the seal of Maracaibo."   
"Maracaibo?!" Rap shouted out, not caring to try to disguise his fear anymore.  
  
"Rap?" Angus asked, starting to understand the situation "Do you know more than you should about this Stew Bram?"  
A silence fell, in which Rap started to look more and more petrified.  
"Ah, I might as well tell the whole bloody tale." Rap answered Angus miserably. "My life is doomed just the same. It began in the grand days of the late thirties. My career was going great; I had won much fame from my popular Meat and fish dishes. I was therefore overly glad when I got the chance to work at a sophisticated restaurant in Panama. Well I was not so glad to be working for any Don, and least of all feeding them, but this was truly a change that would never appear again. Panama was then, as it is now also I believe, one of the richest cities on the entire Spanish Main, and my coming restaurant was the most prominent in Panama.  
  
I became the lead chef. The first couple of days where like heaven on earth (If you took away the fact that I was surrounded by Dons), then one day the owner of the restaurant called me into his office, and I learnt the true secret of the successful El Calabacine Feliz. It was some kind of Mafia Company, which controlled all taverns and restaurants in Panama and Puerto Bello. The reason for hiring me was only to get a man who hated Spanish people to do their dirty work without hesitation. They also wanted some food that was actually edible. Well, what could I say? There in the office this great fat Sicilian-breed Don sat and sucked merrily on the largest pipe I had ever seen, the opening could easily fit a golden guinea, and the tobacco filled the pipe to the brim. This mans great wealth nearly disgusted me (In the kitchen, I had found the most varied collection of spices I have ever seen). "Remember," he said he said, while smiling a great smile that revealed that most of his teeth was of pure gold. "You can be as rich as me, if you only work hard enough."  
  
Who with a fine-working head could refuse an offer where you could kill of lots of Dons, while earning vast amounts of money? That; and the fact that a rather angry-looking African slave with a cutlass stood right behind the boss and just waited for me to refuse, made me accept the offer. Then before long, I sent the most explicit and tastefully poisoned foods to all the restaurants that had not paid the right fees to us. And those foolishly tavern keepers that refused to serve the meat, we paid visits, and most often burned down both their business and their homes. We had a rather thriving little business.  
  
Then one day a slimy tavern owner got the better of us: the Don had conspired against his land, and us. He had refused to pay the fee one day, and served the poisoned food free to the poor (only a few of the regular visitor ever died from the food). Therefore, I naturally believed that the poison-doses had gone wrong, so I increased them, and increased them. He was smart, so he killed of more and more of the regulars according to the poison-doses, but still too few died. So I created the most terrible poison I've ever made, It killed the person after a day, and everyone that the person touched was smitten, and would also die in a day. The snake must have found out, for he had the night after receiving the goods, gathered many of the most prominent people of the city. In a week, the complete elite community was dead. Pirates then sacked the city, and made the tavern owner governor in the name of France. The town was soon after, attacked and reclaimed by the Dons of course (Panama was in danger).  
  
They hanged the governor, but not before he had told about the poisoning. The Dons then blamed us, and my boss would surely blame me (Him also being a Don). Therefore I escaped and found refugee in a shabby Tavern in Curacao. However, the tavern owner was greedy (as are all Dutchmen) and I was running out of money fast. Then this shipment of liquor came in from Puerto Calabaza, this was in my most desperate hour, so I made a grim deal with the tavern owner. I promised him the recipe for the drink, in exchange for a fixed percentage of the income and protection from the spying Dons. I then killed of the whole colony with poisoned sausages. I would not regret doing it if it succeeded, since every man, women and child were actually Dons. But alas, it did not succeed at all. The man who had the recipes was gone, and came back at the blackest of night. Then as he understood what had happened, he ate his own recipes (Crazy Dons!).  
  
He would carry it to his death rather than share it with a stinking Englishman he said. I then tried to force the secret out of him. Nevertheless, the stupid Don had blocked his mind, so all my creative torture was without luck. At the end, he died when I was halfway through peeling the skin of his body (I cut too deep at several places). I was doomed; my only luck lay in the few cases of liquor that lay in their warehouses, so I loaded the poor amount of 12 cases into my ship, and sailed first to Tortuga. There I sold eleven of the cases in exchange for a royal title and a cover in Eleuthera. Then sailed northwards, and chose the unfortunate path that you also must have taken, the Crooked Island Passage. Even so, I must say that I was the most successful; for I kindly accepted a chat with the VoodooLady, and gladly shared with my pumpkin liquor (I had one case left you must remember). Well, luckily for me the VoodooLady really enjoyed the drink, and drank bottle after bottle.  
  
I myself drank only bottles filled with water (After drinking bottles when onboard the ship, I used to fill them with water to fully exploit the fine drink). At the end, she had dozed off, and I could only feel a small warming in my throat and stomach. I looked around and my eyes fell on a recipe on the table. The heading said, Directions for Monkey Irresistible. That is at least what I THINK it said, the letters where quite hard to read. Anyway, I took it with me (It sounded tasteful), and found some of the ingredients for the meal. I also took a handful of her mind-breaking powder-substance (I did not know what it was at that time). Thus, I was free, and she might have believed that the missing handful of powder was proof of my mind breaking, and therefore she did not hunt for me. One thing is sure though, we didn't get the impression of her dismay at us before the Booty episode." Rap stopped with his tale, and started cursing the Voodoo Lady.  
  
Angus' mind flew for a moment over Raps tale, and then at last he spoke. "What about the powder, and the recipe? Did you ever find any use for them?"  
"The powder I hastily got rid of after a rather tragic episode in the Booty Mansion." Rap said, while giving Angus a strange look, which was some kind of mixture between a laugh and a cry. "I managed to turn the Governor on Booty crazy by adding the powder onto of a bowl of porridge. The next hour he was gone, and all traces we could find of him where his clothes that lay rip apart on the floor.  
  
So then his younger brother took the job as the Governor. Luckily, Christopher De Watt (the former governor) had taken his bowl with him, so I was out of suspicion. With that in mind, I carefully studied the recipe, trying to fathom what it might produce. I have concluded that the mixture would at least create a fume that would make those breathing it faint and enter a deep coma. This might be bad enough, but still I have to find out what some of the other ingredients might do. I also have a theory about the fumes; since the fumes cause the coma, the lack of fumes might bring people back from coma. But this is mere speculations and shouldn't be taken seriously."  
Angus sat down on a barrel and tried to think over all that he had heard. Then he heard Marley calling for progress.  
  
"Maybe we should escape?" Angus asked thoughtfully, slowly unravelling a mustering idea, "We could leave Marley where he is. And we could easily overpower the guards above, slip to the side, take a boat, and make to any sho..."  
"No,no!" Rap said miserably, but with pride, "I would never leave Marley behind."  
  
"Why not?" asked Angus, not understanding why any person would risk his life for a sissy captain like Marley "He is a joke! His last action has told us that. He couldn't save these lands even if he wanted to."  
"Are you assuming that Marley is on the VoodooLady's team?" Rap was shocked, and even more so when he saw the affirming nod that Angus gave him. "Marley is the best man I have met. He is also the best governor Mêlée ever had, and when trying to protect his island he is invincible. The only problem is that dreadful boy, he is a nice chap, but the governor's affection towards him is dangerous. Believe me; if Lindy had not been on this ship, Marley would be the first one at the cannons. Rum is again too proud of his governor to see the faults he does.  
  
They do not do anything wrong in their own hearts, and normally they would not do anything like this at all. Therefore, if anyone should escape at all, it must be you Angus. The only friend you probably would have left among us is me." Angus could now see the situation he had feared, dreaded and almost hoped for since his angered discussion with Rum. Dreaded and feared, because it left him alone, and without support (except from Rap that is). He also hoped, because he had grown a hate towards them, and would dislike working with them again. Now all he had to do was make the decision; flee, and kill of his only friend among the rebels, or stay and... Stay and... Of course!  
  
"Rap, do you have all the ingredients for the VoodooLady's monkey-recipe?" Idea after idea flowed into Angus mind, and soon his original plan was completed and he was working with alterative paths to gain the goal he was seeking.  
  
"I have..." Rap started before understanding Angus completely "Aha! I understand. I really like the way you think Angus. I am going to start right away. Now let's see; Preheat pot to 450 degrees..."  
At that moment, a crazed Captain Marley came furious into the galley, and loudly demanded a proper reason for the delay.  
  
"Ah, nothing to worry about Marley," Rap gladly replied, "Our problems will soon be resolved. Just give me a moment."  
"We don't have a moment; they have started taking our crew onboard that dreadful War Galleon of theirs." Marley was clearly distressed "We got to find a solution now."  
"Then take me." Angus said, angrily, angered over the fact that Marley was so weak. "Say that I am this Stew Bram"  
"Nothing would please me more." Marley said, while giving Angus a sly smile. "At least you got some spine left in you Stew"  
"Hey! Is that really necessary?" Rap asked shocked over how the situation was changing.  
"Just remember not to leave without me." Angus said, while he quickly thought over ideas for escape from his coming prison.  
  
"Ha!" Marley said in a laugh "Even if you managed to escape, we would gladly sail away from you."  
Then Angus led by a relieved Marley left Rap to his cooking. "And remember, we have guests!" Angus shouted to him while being forced out of the room.  
Angus felt miserable, but still he had hope, although it was small. His goal was surely escape, but how?   
Marley threw Angus into the hands of the Spaniards, while clearly saying "Stew Bram" and pointing at Angus. Angus heart turned cold by this, and by the hateful looks, which he got from the rest of the crew aboard The Grog Villains Beauty: Rum, and young Lindy. But still, Angus thought, still I am going to get away and claim my prize. He boarded the War Galleon with a high raised head.  
  
The captain smiled proudly over the thought that his quest was finally over, and decided to start Angus' imprisonment with some fun torture. As a repayment for all the suffering Stew Bram had granted them in their quest for his petty self. They started with the usual whippings; the Ship's Master Carpenter happily retrieved a five-tailed monster of a whip, and he smiled sadistically while smacking it with loud noises in the surrounding air, and he smiled with even more malice when understanding that Angus feared the coming pain.  
  
They stripped Angus completely, and the carpenter gladly marked for a cheering crew where the lashes where going to hit Angus' flesh. Then he soaked the whip in salt water, in the thoughts of worsening the pain. Then two of the crewmembers held Angus down, reading his posture to the first lash. Angus thought for the coming seconds only of the pain that was going to find its way into his back. The tails where surely going to tear themselves into stripes from his bottoms to his shoulders, he would feel the cold winds flow into the deep wounds, while seeing his own blood raining in streams down his sides.  
  
Angus concentrated, but his fear was too great; Angus tightened his muscles in his back. Then he heard a way going swoosh, and a great smack. All were still, not a single person said anything. Then came the dreaded oncoming swoosh, but it was fainter than Angus had expected. Suddenly he heard a smack, the smack of the whip that touched flesh, and some tails hitting the floor. What? Angus thought, isn't I hit? His back was unhurt, and he started to wonder whom the carpenter had hit. But then it came, first as a little stinging, then as he grew aware of it, the pain grew worse and worse, and now that he finally understood, the pain was extremely hard to handle. The foul creature had lied; he had hit Angus on his legs instead of his back. Then straight after the first blow, Angus could hear a lowered smack. Angus started to feel sick. Then he heard a way going swoosh again.  
  
Angus could not think straight. Then a second smack broke the silence. The carpenter was laughing wildly now, then a high going swoosh came, louder than ever before. The head! Angus thought. He is aiming for my head. Angus quickly hoisted his back with his hands and feet, and positioned his precious head between his arms and underneath his neck. Then the smack came and he instantly fell down. His head dashed towards the shipboards, and he lost consciousness. Angus, awaking wet and smacking his lips, understood that some of the men had thrown a bucket of water in his face. Then with the coming pain that shrieked in the cold winds, his memory returned; and as this again came, his pains grew worse. Angus had hard time breathing. Then as Angus' focus turned towards trying to breathe amidst the great pain, his memory returned him the image of Rap with his great pot. They took hold of Angus legs and dragged in some metres on the deck boards.  
  
While they did so, Angus had a hard job trying to retrieve two corks from his pocket. But even though he was in great agony, he managed to gain them, and as they turned him, so they could drag the ships dirt into his wounds, he finally managed to stick the plugs into his nose. Then while unconsciousness loomed with luring voices, Angus thoughts came again to Rap. What if it is enough merely to breathe the toxic fumes, and you get into the coma, then their plan would surely be doomed. The men dragged him two long-sides more. Angus was as near unconsciousness than ever before, when he gladly saw the first men drop to the deck. More and more men dropped, and Angus no longer feared the possibility that he himself too would be tucked into a deep coma, he actually wished that he would never get out of it, so great was his pains.  
  
His sliding hell subsided at last, and he was the only person awake on the complete War Galleon. He knew now what to do, but it would surely be a nightmare succeeding it. Angus slowly raised himself, and focused his thoughts towards hate. He slowly walked to the crate that they used as a shortcut for goods when looting. "Ha ha!" Angus laughed aloud "The fool, the brainless prideful fool of a Don!" He smiled gladly while going towards the captain's quarters to get a lamp. He found a burning lamp hanging merrily over the captains table.  
  
Angus seized it and walked as hurriedly as he could back towards the crate. There he smiled wryly as he threw the lamp down into the gunpowder-filled hold. Then he ran towards port, slipped over the side, and hold firmly unto the rope that hang there, expecting to slide firmly into The Grog Villains Beauty, but the only thing that Angus found at the end of the rope was cold and painful salt water. He panicked and cried all that he could. Then the War Galleon exploded, and thousands upon thousands of glowing and burning pieces of wood flew around. It was raining fire, and the sea got slowly covered black by all the ashes. Even so, none of the pieces had hit Angus. Then he saw The Grog Villains Beauty, right behind and to the left of the debris from the War Galleon.  
  
On deck, one man ran back and forth, hauling water from the sea, and trying to extinguish anything that had caught fire. The only thing that really seemed to have taken any fire was the sails, but they were now burning hard, and the man soon gave up hope and ran down deck. It was a grim sight, so Angus lowered his gaze. Then he saw it. A hope fastened itself into his heart. Towards him, a small rowboat floated on the upper currents of the waters. Angus was saved, by pure luck the rowboat fastened to the stern of the Grog Villains Beauty had survived the rain of destruction.  
  
Angus looked up towards the sloop and he could see Rap smiling down at him.  
"We'd better get you back on the ship, huh?" Rap shouted with a glad tone.  
  
"Yea! These wounds are a pain in the backside! Literally!" Angus yelled back. Rap never got the chance to help Angus into the ship though, because the next moment he collapsed on the deck and the slow winds blew two cork-plugs from the ship deck and into Angus' boat.  
  
Angus could not climb into the boat by himself, his wounds had made him too weak for that. Therefore, he called with all the power his throat could muster, but no reply came. Then as he understood that also Rap had entered a coma, he gave up hope and returned to his self-pity. Then as his thoughts again remembered his wounds, Angus became so stricken by his great pain that he collapsed. 


	5. The Secret of Monkey Irresistible

Angus awoke in a shiver; he was freezing, a sensation he had not experienced since his trip over the great Atlantic. He was soaked to the bone by his own sweat, and now completely awake and unable to sleep any further, tried in vain to warm himself by tucking his clothes tighter around his body. Angus then blinked curiously over the rail of the small rowboat, wondering about his location. He could see the moon descending dimly towards the pitch-black sea, surrounded by an even darker horizon. It almost seemed that the blackness had trapped the helpless moon; as if the death-black masses surrounding the horizons, had dragged the glowing circle from the lighter grey clouds that towered over the skyline, and was now dragging it forcefully towards the sea, in an effort to extinguish its proud glow.  
  
Angus felt painfully alone sitting in a little rowboat towed by a dead ship, and frightfully open to attacks. Miserable thoughts started drifting to the Scotsman. He was now cold, wet and alone, and had depressing thoughts as he wondered if the crewmembers of the Grog Villains Beauty would ever awake from their comas and save him. His wounds seemed at least to have healed though, all that he now felt of them was itching scabs; but that was also the only improvement that he could notice from the last days.   
Angus grasped the rope connecting the small rowboat to the sloop and tested the fastness of its hold. He COULD climb it, he believed, even though he now was starved (after days without food), and rather weak (from the same reason). He was slowly towing his little boat closer to the Sloop when his back suddenly flashed with coldness, as if someone had laid a long metal piece all across it; Angus turned slowly expecting only a cold wind hitting his face.   
The moon was now being dragged into the sea by the darkness, and was starting to lose its white clean shine. Now the moon slowly turned darkly red by the blackness surrounding it, and as the moon dipped itself into the water, the sea too was coloured red along with the horizon around the falling circle. And then, as the moon was halfway through its fall, all the horizons fiercely turned dark purple. Angus now turned forward and saw a terrible looking sun sending great sticking red beams all over the sea. The sun was evil in Angus' mind, and he had a creeping feeling that the reddish beams were searching for something, most probably him.   
  
Then suddenly a great white flash came and lightened the Grog Villains Beauty and the surrounding waters. Angus was petrified, he had now reached the Sloop, and felt that the spotlight from above was too revealing, at least while he sat openly in a small rowboat. Angus hoped at least to get into the Sloop; any possible danger that could follow these strange weather phenomenons would surely be easier to handle in a four- gunned Sloop than in an un-defendable rowboat. He was a couple of metres away from the stern of the ship when he heard a great cracking sound, like a tree cracked by a heavy storm. Angus looked up in surprise, towards the skies where the sound had come from. He could to his astonishment, see a wide and shallow crack opening slowly with a great trembling noise. At the end, the crack had widened to a great looming circle that seemed even larger than the world.   
Angus felt uneasy; somehow, he knew that this was a sight not meant for mortal eyes.  
Then the great grey clouds above lowered themselves, and it seemed to Angus that the world itself was going under. Then a thin column of fume came twirling from the Grog Villains Beauty towards the wide circle; and when the fume reached the clouds, the clouds stopped their descending. The green column from the Grog Villains Beauty now grew wider, and separated itself into several tails, which in their turn pulled and ripped off large pieces from the clouds, with terrible cracking sounds. The fume then formed from all its collected cloud- masses a small cloud shaped as a bowl, and sent it slowly down towards the ocean.   
As it drew closer, Angus understood how mighty it truly was, and he was horrified. It was hundreds of metres wide, and just as high.  
The sight of the solemn descending cloud had scared Angus, and he was therefore relieved when it dipped itself slowly into the waters behind the Grog Villains Beauty like a whale.   
Whale? Something was clearly wrong with this picture. The cloud was supposed to disappear like a foaming- cream in warm water. Clouds mix with water; they do not dive into them.   
Angus focused his eyes on the water, and saw to his shock that the bulking cloud was travelling freely underwater, but even worse: towards him! It finally stopped with its tip right between the Grog Villains Beauty and Angus' rowboat.   
Then to the horror of Angus, the cloud came up from the waters and started lifting the Grog Villains Beauty with its flight.  
Angus looked around in disbelief, again fearing the end of the world. Then he saw something that horrified him more than any Armageddon would do. From all the horizons around him, a blood-like red glow shone. It was as if the waters were on fire and the air was burning.   
Angus panicked by the look of this, he knew not what it was, but was sure that it could not be a good sign. He looked at the bow of the rowboat, and saw to his dread that it had started to raise over the water as the rope from the now high-flying Grog Villains Beauty pulled it. Angus understood that he could not sit in the rowboat if he hoped to avoid drowning, so he started climbing the rope, and as he did so the rope itself and untied itself from the rowboat, and Angus wondered greatly about this, as he realised that up was the only way to climb if he wanted to live any further. It was as if nature itself forced him to go on.   
The climb was long and very tiring for the starved Scotsman, but when he finally had reached the bottom of the cloud, he took a break and tied the rope around himself. He then started to look over the ocean that now laid hundreds of metres below him; it was starting to turn entirely red, and Angus could see small dark squares all around. Angus now knew what this was; it was the VoodooLady and her armada of ships, trying to capture the rebels.   
Angus could hardly believe the power of the evil sorceress. She had the greatest army Angus had ever seen, and seemed also to have control over the weather. Angus was afraid; the terror of the VoodooLady had now finally reached his soul, and his hopes in all that he believed was quickly diminishing. Then, as depression gnawed upon his soul like a rapid dog over a meat-full bone, calming winds came carrying a great white cloud.  
Angus instantly focused on the cloud in the hopes that it would hide him from the VoodooLadys gaze; and as he did so, his mind went dreamingly away from all worries, and brought forth strange pictures of things unseen to him before. A vision of a great army readying itself for a fight, was painted to him by the curves and bulks in the great cloud; or maybe his imagination was going wild. Angus could see a proud war chief on a great horse, wielding a golden pike, which he used to control thousands upon thousands of following riders with similar pikes. At his left flank, a row of bowmen on chariots shot out thin streaks of crispy white cloud- stripes. Angus followed the cloud-arrows, and could see another army rushing fast from the other side. These were clouds with the likeness of a hundreds of axe-wielding fighters; the leader of this army was a great man twice the height of his soldiers. Angus then, as the two armies had blocked his visage of the VoodooLady's armada in their great collision of axes and pikes, tried to regain his focus to reality and continue his climb.   
He managed to climb half a metre before his gaze again drifted down to the battlefield that no longer seemed to be only in his mind. The two armies had now blocked every inch of air bellow Angus and the sea. The fight was now on its height, and Angus believed that he could hear muffled cries as the men draw their weapons into each other, and he could even see thin strips of blood-red fumes evaporating from the men's wounds. The last glance he could get from the battlefield was of the giant sabre-wielding monster facing a tiny unarmed cloud. Then the sight faded from Angus' eyes, and he turned and focused on a strange sight ahead; it seemed that he was inside an enormous cloud, even greater then Europe.  
A landscape made out of only clouds, water and snow, played the symphony of seasons for Angus' eyes, and he marvelled more for each second, over the greatness of it all. Then as the winter's blizzard gave way for the warming breeze of spring, a great mountain met Angus eyes, and the mountains sides where filled with thousands of faces. They smiled happily when the cloud carrying the Grog Villains Beauty passed slowly by, and as Angus passed the last face, the only face that was angry and aware of Angus, a man drifted slowly out of the face's mouth. Angus instantly recognised the cloud-man that flew towards him.   
It was Fergus! Angus' granduncle.   
He was the last man to rule over the McDow castle in southern Scotland before the insane protestant Brits came, burning women inside their houses in the name of their own petty vision of the bible. Angus eyes went moist when he recalled the great halls of the old castle, and the memory of the ever-glad Fergus who always liked to talk about the old days.   
Angus fondly recollected these tales now. The brutal feud and horrible wars with the McMuttons… The tale of the dragon and its foundation of the castle walls… The three generation long "holmgang" (A Viking duel) with Torvein Hardhaug, and the great war that followed… The tale of the giant, and its shaping of Ireland at Ben McDow's command… All the stories now came back to Angus' mind, and he was amazed to see that these very events where portrayed by the surrounding clouds. There was Count Jacob McDow with his sword "Blunty" positioned at Martin McMuttons throat after the stealing of the sheep. He could see Dowman himself, standing at Dowland Moor holding Katie Bellman in his hands, ready to shape the future forever. He also saw the great and proud dragon Vetterissa, forced into buildinging the Hall of Hopes, the seat of the McDow clan. The episode where John McDow finally revenged his grandfather, father, uncles and brothers with a foul spit, made Angus laugh loudly. Lastly, Angus' own father showed himself in his last living moment fighting some mean Whig. Then as Angus' eyes got blurry by the thought of the doom of his clan and its unpromising future, the clouds faded into unrecognizable shapes. Angus cleared his eyes, and gazed ahead hoping to see an end to all the whiteness. It was not the McDow spirit to dwell in the past with misery and sadness.   
He could now see the clouds clearing over him, and thin beams of light shone through the cloud-line. Angus decided to loosen the rope, which he had fastened around his waistline, and continue his climb towards the Grog Villains Beauty. And just as he had untied the rope, and was about to climb into the cloud that carried the Grog Villains Beauty, Angus thought he could see a demonic face filled with maddening rage, appear in the clouds behind, and varied forms of this face appeared around the first one. Nevertheless, even though the face was horrid and often deathlike, Angus could not help noticing a glimmer of gladness, hope and enjoyment in the curly cloud-eyes of the illusion. Then the images faded in the now fast growing light, and Angus climbed into the Grog Villains Beauty-carrying cloud.   
Angus was, after a rather strange climb through a mushy cloud, and a long swim through much water, finally able to climb the rope to the stern of the ship. He then looked around and saw that the Grog Villains Beauty now was floating on a great ocean. It was as if he had reached another world with a great border of clouds.   
  
Angus, now on the brink of starvation, didn't stay on deck and ponder his strange travel and the strange sea he had come to, but instead decided to go down to the galley and prepare himself some food.   
There he found the usual meals, salt meat and water. Angus' was glad just the same, poor food is better than no food.   
He had a little feast for himself while thinking of what to do next. He should surely try to awake the others later. Angus was certain that after telling them about his destruction of the War Galleon, and the terror that followed them, they would rethink their foolish abolishment of him. They had acted upon fear, and so when Angus now told them the entire truth, they would surely see things in a different perspective.  
Angus was just finishing his meal, and had emptied his last cup of water, when he heard that the others was starting to awake. He quickly stood up and started for the door; but then he heard a great cursing upon deck. Angus silently walked towards the hatch, not knowing what to expect.   
"Captain!" Rum's bellowing voice cried out. "Our sails are torched!"  
"And the rowboat is gone too!" Rap cried instantly after, from the stern.   
Angus crept slowly a bit higher on the staircase, enough so that he could see the men.  
Marley's face was painted red by anger and despair.   
"Who could have done something as dreadful as this?" he asked himself mutely as he inspected the sails. "Lindy!" he then cried out.   
Ah, thought Angus. Finally the brat is getting a beating.  
"Yea" Lindy answered sleepily, stepping onto the deck with unsure feet.  
"I knew it!" Marley cried out right after the young boy had answered. "It must be Angus! If I ever see him again he will surely kiss the gunner's daughter (an expression used for a method of punishment: The guilty of crime is tied fast to the cannon and whipped. There are many variations of the ties and whipping (or even other pain giving tortures).)."  
Angus did not know what to do. His first urges to jump forth and proclaim his innocence were soon discouraged by his more "sensible" thoughts. With the captain in this mood, his safety could be at stage, and the last thing he wanted was another whipping. He just continued to listen in silence.  
"How can it be him?" Rap asked. "Didn't you see the Dons take him with them?"  
Oh no! Thought Angus. Now I surely couldn't appear again. The stupid cook is playing along their side.  
"How can we know he wasn't on league with the Spaniards?" Marley said, first addressing only Rap, then as the vision became clearer addressed all the others. "The Spaniards could have sent him onboard to set our ship on fire, and as she burned he would run away with one of our rowboats. The Spaniards must have been on the VoodooLady's league since they managed to make us all collapse. Therefore, Angus has been on the VoodooLady's team all the time. We should have known."  
Angus glanced miserably on each of his former "friends". They where all shocked, but even Rap could see the sense in the speculation. Angus now knew that a reuniting would be impossible. He therefore quickly went to the hold to find a suitable hiding place. He was going to hide until they got near land and escape would be possible.  
He was now right back from where he started when boarding the War Galleon. He could not expect any gladness any longer from any of the people who might find him. Angus now hoped that this sky-ocean at least contained one or more colonies in which he could hide.   
He had crept inside a chest filled with ship-crackers, and listened intently to the soft noises of trampling upon the deck. He was not entirely sure what his hopes now lay in, and if his hiding place at all was safe. He heard the clinging of the ships-bell and Rum bellowing "Land Ho!"  
Now was the time, Angus thought, now he could finally escape from these amateurish rebels, luckily enough, these lands seemed to be Voodoo-free.   
Angus was just about to lift the lid of the chest, when he heard Rap and Rum stumbling down the stairs to the hold. Angus lay completely still, eavesdropping on them in hope for information on the new land.  
"Where do you think we have gotten?" Rum asked, his voice was trembling with concern.  
"I don't know Rum," Rap answered just as afraid. "I only hope that the VoodooLady isn't controlling the island."   
"Don't you think we could manage with the storm-sails till we get to a proper colony?" Rum asked on, clearly at unease with the plans, prearranged on deck. "I have a really bad feeling about this."  
"No use I guess." Rap replied sadly. "We need more men. This ship cannot be sailed with only four people. I was onboard a Sloop staffed by seven men one time, and I am telling you that it was like a living nightmare. The men were totally exhausted; half of them had gone crazy when we arrived in Nevis two days later, and was unusable for further sailing."  
"So bad eh?" Rum replied with doubt mixed in his amazement, interested in more information.   
"To tell you the truth Rum," Rap said, as he took a ship-chest over his thin shoulder, and gave the man a sly smile. "It would perhaps have turned up all right if it hadn't been for that dreadful parrot of the cabin boy who... Hey! What is that?"  
"Wha..?" Rum started, before noticing where Rap pointed. "What the... It's glowing."  
Angus lifted the lid of the chest a bit more to see what they where talking about, but could not see what they huddled themselves over.  
"Should we open it?" Rap asked doubtfully. "He HAS abandoned the ship hasn't he?"  
"I don't really know Rap." Rum doubtfully said, while backing away from the object of interest. "Marley said that he was under influence of the VoodooLady, and if that is true, this thing could be a weapon against us." He backed away a couple of feet more when realising his own words. It was enough so that Angus could see what they where talking about, and when seeing it, he wondered. It was his ships-chest, and through all possible cracks in it, a great green light shone out, and it grew in intensity for every second and so like a great beating heart. Rap was still bending over it. He touched the lid, and looked wondered but confident upon Rum.  
"I'm sure that Angus was no spy of the VoodooLady" he said while adding a grave look to Rum, to make him understand the truthfulness of this. "And therefore this chest can't be anything to be afraid of"  
"But Marley said..." Rum protested loudly as Rap started fiddling with the lock.  
"Marley don't know a thing about Angus." Rap answered back furiously. "And I really can't believe that a man like you would follow him so blindly in his beliefs."  
Rum eyed the cook with suspicion. "How much do you REALLY know about Angus' actions after the Spaniards took him?" he then asked slowly, while his hands lowered gradually towards his belt and knife.  
Rap looked frightfully at Rum; he clearly disliked the Dutch drunk's speculations.  
"I at least know that his actions didn't have anything to do with the VoodooLady." Rap said quickly, trying to clear of all suspicion.   
"What about the rowboat?" Rum asked, while playing his fingers around the hilt of the knife.  
Angus swallowed hard, and looked distressed at Rum.  
"I was about to save him."  
"And the sails?"  
"He..."   
Rum interrupted him, even before Rap could explain the whole situation. "We all knew that Angus was on the VoodooLady's side..." He started, still playing his fingers around his knifes shaft. "But you Rap? I'm disappointed." A scornful and horridly sadistic smile widened across Rum's fat face.  
Rap gazed back with fear, surprised over the bloodlust of his friend.  
"Rum, Rum! Take it easy!" Rap tried to calm him down "If I really was on that fools side you all would have been dead by now." He had now gotten over his shock about Rum's speculation, and had found out that the only path he now could play was to play along. "He was trying to enter the ship from the rowboat that was floating from the stern; I cut the rope connecting the boat when I noticed him. He was probably trying to return to retrieve the chest after trying to torch the boat, which I was lucky enough to save from destruction."  
Rum swallowed the story as easily as a mug of grog, and looked upon Rap with renewed respect and wonder. Rap was aware of the troubles that could appear if he was to ask about a more detailed description of his tale.  
"Now hand me that rapier," Rap commanded, while pointing at a sword resting against a barrel filled with rum, trying to get Rum on other thoughts than treason. "And maybe we can open this..."  
Rum gave him the rapier with a scowl and added. "Well, the blame will surely be on your part if snakes and skink-toes come leaping out and overruns the boat..."  
Rap gave Rum no heed though; he forced the tip of the rapier into the lock and twisted it hard. A crack followed, and the locking-mechanism was destroyed. Rap slowly opened the lid, and a bright light filled the room. Rap reached down into the chest, and as he raised again the whole room lightened brightly green. Angus could only see the silhouettes of the two crewmembers bowing over something small that Rap seemed to hold.  
"Wadd'ya now!" Rap said, melancholically but with joy.   
Rum looked with interest, and hoped clearly for a further explanation.  
"Angus had locked his treasure map down into his chest..."   
Angus froze when hearing this. His map? Was it glowing? Why? He could find no sense in the puzzle.  
Then Rap again spoke. "Hear Rum." He said interested. "There are some writings here... Let us see: By a storm in the Bahamas Isles you will find the land of wonders and finally this isle. Ps. a recipe is not always for cooking food. Hmm. Strange, strange ind..." Rap stopped abruptly as he realised something. His face filled with excitement, he asked Rum about the land sighting he had reported to the captain.  
"Well, I couldn't see so much from my location, but it seemed large. I saw an entire mountain-chain stretching over the horizon."  
"Then this must be it!" Rap cried out in wonder. Rum looked strangely at him. "This is the place you fool! See this chain, and that coast! There is a treasure on this island, and I'm guessing that it is the VoodooLady's"  
A smile widened over Rums mouth, and he and Rap talked merrily to each other as they walked up to the deck to report their findings to the captain.  
  
Angus now had a hard time breathing in his box. The others had found his treasure map, the solemn reason for his travels into the Bahamas, and it now even beamed out its signal of direction. So close, but alas so far, far away. His back shivered when he thought about the greatness the map must have hidden, it was a secret treasure that even the VoodooLady seemed to want to obtain, and now it was handled by fools.   
Angus could hear the sound of a rowboat splashing down into the waters. He quickly got out of his barrel and sneaked upon deck, only to realise that his fear had been truthful. The others had now already embarked on land, in search for HIS treasure. Angus then ran down to the armoury and loaded three guns, which he afterwards properly fastened into his belt. He WOULD get that treasure, even if it meant killing of the rest of his former crewmembers. In that grim mood he lowered the last rowboat into the water, and rowed towards land. 


	6. Hate, Despair, and Loneliness

Angus reached the shore with a morning-sour sun shining vigorously at his back. He jumped into the shallow waters, and waded towards the shore while hauling the boat after him. The sun shone with great warmth, so he was glad to see the dim shadows that slowly crept longer into the jungle. 

When he had finally managed to drag the boat ashore, he realized his folly. What if the others returned, and saw another rowboat laying aside theirs on the shore? Then, his advantage of surprise would be useless. Angus therefore pushed the boat out into the water again, and started to row it out from the shore. When he had gotten as far as he wanted, he jammed his cutlass into the one of the planks and forced the nails out from their homes, making the boat sink. Then Angus jumped over the rail, and swam back to the shore. 

When Angus finally arrived soaking wet at the beach, he sat down and happily watched the rowboat sink slowly away from sight, while sailing slowly away. Angus smiled scornfully for himself when the waves finally licked the small boat down into its great depth. Angus' eyes then drifted over the sea in search for witnesses, but no other soul saw the drowning of the second rowboat. Only the Grog Villains Beauty was to be seen, gallantly dipped into the water, and slowly travelling with the wind in a small circle around its anchor-chain. 

Angus spat into the golden sand in front of him. He now remembered his thoughtless glee when he first had seen this ship on the docks of Mêlée Island. Back then, he felt safe accompanied by its crew, and was looking forward to the grand fight that was to come. Now, looking back at it all, Angus could see how useless their efforts were. Marley would never gain any support from any colony, and he would never find any cheap pirate mercenaries. These were the 1660-ees, Angus reminded himself, the downfall of the new world. Nowadays every brave man hoped to sack a Spanish colony and get a hold of the Galleons travelling with the Treasure Fleet. The sea had filled with pirates and privateers, and they had become stronger and stronger. No colony was safe anymore, not even Panama or Havana. 

Marley's quest was in vain, the only person who might have been able to fulfil it into a working plan was an outsider, thrown of the ship with scornful grimaces, and hateful curses. Angus got up from the sand, and turned towards the jungle, the sight of the horrid Sloop was too much for him now.

Angus walked towards a banana tree, which strangely enough had down hanging bananas, when he noticed his salvation: footprints! 

There the fat barrel-shaped Dutchman had walked wobbling towards the jungle. Next to these prints, there was a set of over proud prints that had to come from the "noble" Captain. Angus boiled with anger by the sight of the prints, they where like a scripture of evil painted into his mind. Then he noticed the tiny prints of his most hated crewmember, Lindy. This spoiled boy had destroyed Angus life, and now this kid was going to steal Angus treasure! Angus was now sick of it all, all the insane bickering the little boy had produced when refusing to go under the deck under the storm, and his useless warning about the war galleon. Angus' patience had long been over, but now even his pity towards them had disappeared completely. He was now ready to kill them all! He took hold of his cutlass, and ran hastily into the forest, hoping to find the complete gang behind a nearby tree trunk. He did not find them behind the first trees though, but Angus did not really care. He knew that he could follow them forever if he had to, and once he found them he knew that his revenge would be so terrible that the villains would scream for mercy before he even cut the first stripes of blood into their skin. 

Angus started to run, and while he did so, he started to think about the fight that was to come. The glorious fight that he would win. He would first shoot a good shot against Marley's head, ending the proud mans life for good in a bloody spray. The next victim would be Rum of course; his stupidity had too long embarrassed this world. His eyes would probably marvel with fear, before disappearing completely into a great red mass of blood. Then Rap's gutter would fall freely unto the ground for his treason. Lastly, there was Lindy, the boy who had put Angus into this situation, the boy who had been responsible for it all. Angus smiled grimly as he thought about all the painful tortures that he would inflect the young boy. 

Then, as Angus ran hastily through the jungle in the brink of the day, an especially nasty punishment came to his mind, and he laughed a horrid and scornful laugh.

.

Angus travelled now deeper and deeper into the jungle of the great island. 

The island itself consisted of two great patches of jungle, separated by a small mountain chain. The island itself was quite large, a four day walk (if the roads had been straight, and the land had been flat) from south to north, and east to west. It was just like any other island in the Caribbean. The same look, the same sounds, and the same dry stench of rotting plants. It also had the same plants and wildlife. In fact, It was just like any other island in the Caribbean, only this one floated on a cloud kilometres over the other islands... The sun raised itself on the horizon, and the morning awoke every animal that was going to die or kill that day. Angus slashed down a branch of a tree with his cutlass. A rather large, sleeping Hutia fell from the cut branch. The Hutia panicked, and wriggled wildly before he luckily enough managed to cling onto another branch just before slamming into the ground. 

With unsteady steps, the Hutia climbed towards the trunk of the tree. Then out of nowhere, a great snake came from behind and twirled itself around it. Slowly, slowly the snake squished the air out of the poor creature and swallowed the prey whole. The snake then quite pleased over himself, crept down from the tree and headed for a cave so that he could properly digest the food. 

The road was long and quite tiresome with the great Hutia tucked into its stomach, but finally, as the day reached its height, the snake was close to its domain. Only a few metres, over a small path and it was home.

.

The sun had reached its peak, and midday had come with its engulfing warmth, when Angus noticed a great snake with a bulking stomach crossing the road, and coming fast towards him. He quickly took forth his cutlass and cleaved the head of the snake. 

"This is only the first snake I would kill today!" He then said grimly, thinking of course about the treasonous crew of the Grog Villains Beauty.

He then took a short break. He was now tired. Tired of it all, and he really wanted his nightmare to end. The sun still shone freely down through thin trees, and little or no shadow could be seen anywhere. Angus cursed the sun. It had burned against his neck for the last half hour. 

He was inside an enormous clearing, and the sun had intensified its glow every second. It was now like a great fire, burning hateful at Angus head. It was almost as if Angus could feel his brain starting to boil, and every root of hair sent hurtful dagger-like pins into his skull. Angus glanced scornfully towards the sun, and cursed it aloud. This was the worst warmth he had experienced in his life. His mind boiled, and he sat, musing over his situation.

Was the warmth an attack against Angus directly? Angus knew that the VoodooLady now seemed to have control over the weather, and what confidences had he that these lands where indeed voodoo free? It might be the VoodooLady who now, helped with spy-reports from Lindy sent this great sun to force Angus to stop his hunt for the treasure. If that was true, the so-called rebels where indeed her most trusted servants, the deceitful Lindy had worked against them all the time! Soon Angus would be alone, in the nightmare that was sure to come to the lands. 

Angus thoughts dwelled then on the treasure. He felt that this treasure was a last piece in some great puzzle, and that he HAD to find it before the others. Therefore, he could not let any of his old crewmates live. He had to kill them all, and do it all alone armed only with a cutlass and two guns. 

Angus mind went over the upcoming killings again, and he now saw that it was going to be a difficult task. If he only had thought straighter and brought two more guns, his chances could have been acceptable, now they where intolerable. He had two changes to kill from a distance, and then he had to cut up the other two right afterwards... It seemed natural and easy a few hours ago when he found the tracks, but now it just seemed like folly. 

Maybe, Angus mused, maybe I should get in touch with Rap? I am sure he was only trying to protect me on the ship, and even if he had turned wholly to their side, a gun was a sure convincer for uncooperative people. 

Angus had decided to get in touch with the cook, and talk him into, or force him into helping him. Then the preferable way to kill the others would have to be poisoning. The others did not know about Rap's secret, and thus would have few thoughts about a rather strange smelling meal at the cold evening. 

Angus thought more and more over this newfound plan, and he was glad and thoughtful when he raised and continued his chase into the deep jungle.

.

The hours flew as Angus with his mind full of plans, tracked down his former crewmembers. The great mountains now started to rise over the jungle roof, and Angus noticed that the tops of the mountains had snow on them. 

From the snowy peaks, great birds flew. It was Vultures looking for food for their young offspring. Maybe they had understood what Angus was about to do? Or maybe other things had attracted their interests? Anyway, they flew in great circles now, a thirty or forty metres over Angus, and followed him on his travels. Two birds they were, great birds with years and years of experience.

They looked distressed. They had always been able to find food before, but lately things had gone wrong. The period had been especially dry, and few animals had survived. Now the Vultures were starved and rather thin. They flew in pairs, and lowered closer to the ground. They could sense that Angus was weak, and expected him to drop any moment. The scent of a dead bat met their beaks, but the vultures did not care. They were now close to a meal that would last for at least a week, and much more wasn't needed for the small offspring that awaited alone at their nest. All his brothers and sisters had died by starvation, but little Bennie was still alive, though starved, and if he did not get food this day, he would surely die. 

The father flew low and close to Angus. He had now panicked in his hunger, and therefore he attacked the Scotsman. Angus, however, only stroked his cutlass hard over the poor bird's neck, killing it instantly. This did not stop his travels through the woods though, and neither did his steps slow their pace. No, it was almost the opposite. His pace went faster and faster as the night drew on, and lastly, as the sun dipped itself into the cloudy waves, the mother returned sadly home to her nest. 

Then, suddenly she felt the glorious stench of blood. She quickly darted down, and since she had seen the prey from afar, just grasped the beast lying on the ground blood full and headless. This was her saviour, with this meal her offspring could survive for a couple of days more. It was a rather grand meal, a bulking snake it was, and nearly 2 metres long. Even the loss of the father would not lessen the offspring's changes of survival with this glorious feast of a meal. She therefore now, flew into the sunset with the snake hanging down from her claws.

.

Darkness had swept over the island, and Angus was terribly tired. He therefore found great relief by the sight of a faint glow coming from within the jungle. 

As Angus crept closer, he could hear the voices of his enemies giving praise to someone or another, for managing to capture something edible. He now crept even closer to try to get a clear picture of the whole situation.

He had crept under a branchfull bush right outside the camp. A tiny fire dimly lit the camp, and only Rum was visible sitting on a log drinking a portion of rum. No one else seemed to be around, as Rum drank another mug of his heavenly sugar-drink. Then suddenly, Angus heard a clear whistling from the branches nearby. The whistling became louder and louder, as the source came closer to Angus. Now the person, who surely was collecting dry branches for the campfire, was right beside Angus, and started rummaging the very bush that was Angus hiding underneath. Then Rum cried out in dismay over the slowly extinguishing fire. The whistling man quickly changed his merry tune into a stricken gasp, and ran quickly towards the fire. 

Now, Angus could clearly recognize the whistling man, and he cursed himself for not allowing the man to see him. It was Rap carrying much wood for the fire. He tended the fire heartily, and loudly exclaimed his joy when the fire again burned life-full and even grew in greatness. 

Then, as the fire was eating greedily on the dry branches, Angus could see Captain Marley and Young Lindy coming laughingly out of a tent, carrying rapiers with cork-covered tips.

Angus wondered whether he should attack right away or not. His feelings, however, were betrayed by his common sense, and he watched closely as Lindy and Marley put on several unfamiliar garments; they fastened protection for their arms, legs and chests, all in heavy iron. Then they positioned themselves at the right distance. 

Marley commanded Lindy to attack, and the young boy swiftly sent his cork-secured rapier straight-lined towards Marley's stomach. Marley found no difficulties in such an easy move though, so he instantly slashed Lindy's rapier away, aimed his own sword towards Lindy's heart, and sent it hard forward hoping for a short "kill". Lindy was not as defenceless as it might seem though, he had changed his hold and direction of the blade even before Marley had slashed his earlier attack away. Therefore, Lindy's rapier had gone unnaturally fast in its retreat; it had swirled quickly around Lindy's backhand, and thus, Lindy now firmly forced Marley's "killing" blade away. 

Marley smiled approvingly at this move. "I see you have practiced on the Fools Fooler!" He said, as he once again manipulated the boy to do the move, but this time on the left hand. "Remember, three fingers only. If more, the rotation will be to slow, if less you would lose the blade if something hits it". They went over the move some more times, until Lindy was handling it securely while Angus stroked the blade in its rotation. 

"Nice!" Marley at last replied happily. "You have improved greatly." 

He demanded another attack. 

Lindy this time quickly sent the tip of his rapier against the left side of Marley's chest. Marley was about to smash the sword away with a down-swinging curl of his own rapier, but did not find the time. 

Angus could only hear a faint "pjong" from the two blades that stroked at each other's sides. 

Lindy had quickly dragged and pulled his blade backwards and upwards in a diagonal arch towards Marley's blade arm. This way he, with a small margin, evaded the blade, and smashed the cork into Marley's front head. 

"You fool!" Marley cried out in dismay. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"I'm sorry Captain" Lindy replied sadly. "But I don't know where you want me to aim at..." He had seconds before striking the blade into the forehead of his master, felt the bite of a cork smashing into his own stomach. His attack had therefore been doomed, and he would never have been able to even reach the opponents forehead if the blades were uncorked. 

"If I told you every move, then you wouldn't learn; you would only copy. And then you would never be a true master of the blade." Marley answered, clearly saddened by the ignorance of the boy. "If I were an enemy and attempted this move on you, and you retreated before it was completed, you would learn nothing from the encounter if you did not think of the reason for my attack, and the attacks possibilities. A true master would already after a few seconds be able to foretell a coming move, and thus manage to defend himself against it. You must never think less of your opponent than you think of yourself. Ok. I will help you on this one too, but this is the final move I will give freely to you." Marley made Lindy have the same position that Marley had when Lindy had forced his blade upwards towards his head. "There are two alternatives to this move, depending on your luck, or dominance of the blade. Nr1. Instantly after you recourse your blade, strike it into the arm, more specifically: palm, of the opponent. This is of course quite a risky maneuver, since you must position your arm under his blow, and your own shoulder dangerously open. Therefore this move is only for the most experienced, or most foolish. In other words, I hope you never do it. Nr2. Follow his movement with your arm (to avoid him stabbing you) and force your blade into his underarm. It is a quite hard maneuver to do right, but if you have the right grip of the blade, you could easily evacuate the attack if needed. This is also a move that would probably confuse the other person, since he would never suspect you using your own body in touch with his sword, thus elbowing it away would be quite easy." 

Then Marley showed Lindy the right way to approach the blow, the right way to position the blade, the right back curling and slightly nipping of blade arm into the opponents arm or sword so that it went away from hurts grasp, while having the arm going forward for a stinging bite into the opponents underarm, which now should be perfectly open. 

Angus was amazed. These were moves he had never seen before, and they really scared him. Marley would surely be harder to kill than first imagined, if killing him would be possible at all.

Then Lindy tried a couple of times on the same move, and handled the move to some extent.

Angus was now sure that it would be hard to kill even Lindy, and he wondered what to do, and whom he could hope to kill with his short-ranged steel. It of course had to be Rap and Rum, Rap was a cook, so he being a master swordsman was unlikely, and Rum was way too fat to be of any use in a fight anyway. Even so, Angus really hoped that he had had his old long-sword, with that he could have had them away from a longer hold than the short cutlass. 

Thus, it was decided! First Lindy and Marley would die by the two guns, and then Angus' cutlass would cut open Rap and Marley. 

Marley and Lindy had now finished their fight, gone over to the campfire, and sat now right next to Rum.

"Look here" Rum said proudly to the newcomers. "Look what I killed a couple of hours ago." He showed them an immense vulture with great pride. "It even carried a great snake, which Rap is preparing for supper by the way."

Angus crept closer.

"Wow!" Lindy replied amazed "That's amazing. How did you manage to kill it?"

Angus had now reached the bushes right behind Lindy and Marley.

"Oh! That was nothing really..." Rum started with a smile, while reaching for something from behind the mug he sat on. 

Angus now took forth his two guns. Slowly, and quietly he positioned the necks firmly in the correct position for two quick kills. 

"It was really nothing..." Rum said again proudly as he appeared from behind the barrel.

Angus was full of hate now, and pressed the trigger of the gun positioned towards Marley's head instantly before the finger on the next gun had touched the cold iron of the firing mechanism of that gun. The next gun's mechanism never got in motion though, for Angus had seen something that instantly revealed his doom.

The words that Rum had muttered had gone unnoticed through Angus' mind, but the sight of the main character in Rum's boasting had sent panic into his every nerve.

"Not at least with these little beauties!" Rum patted carefully a musket, and two guns. "I got them straight from Europe right before sailing into these wretched waters."

Thousands upon thousands of thoughts filled Angus mind, as he in the brake between the pressing of the gun, and the fire of it, thought about how horrible a death he would suffer. His life was gone forever now, and he would probably not even have time to breathe a second breath. 

Then it came, the thing that Angus mind had been awaiting for a millisecond. The neck of the gun reached the gunpowder with a loud and greatly wet smack. Angus could feel his thumb, first finger, and arm sprayed with cold drops of water. 

The realizing of the wet gunpowder sent Angus into a great breathing, which he had a hard time controlling bellow the hear-ability of the men around the campfire. 

The gunpowder was wet, and thus useless.

Lindy had heard the smacking of the gun, but since no one else seemed to notice the faint metallic sound, he thought that his imagination had affected his hearing, and he cursed himself for still being such a child. 

After a while, Angus was able to breathe normally again, and defeated (at least in spirit) he slowly crawled away from the campfire, and was in the thoughts of leaving the camp, and giving up his hope of finding the treasure. 

When Angus had crept out of the fire's shine, he seemed to hear a faint calling whisper, as from a tree full of wind, coming from a tent raised at the other side of the fire. Angus looked curious over the fire and observed the tent with interested eyes. He then noticed that the tent blinked. Angus then understood that the map had to be inside that tent, and that it was calling for him. Angus therefore slowly crawled around to the other side of the fire, and then towards the tent. 

When he reached the tent, he thought he could hear a calming humming, and the tent itself gave forth a calming light green flicker. Angus then slowly crept underneath the tent-blanket and inside the tent. The inside shone with glorious green lights, and the curves of the tent seemed like heavens cloudily borders, or blissful tree-trunks of green, unstained by autumn. In the midst of the room, the source of it all lay in a glorious might and brightly light. The map! 

Angus crept with awe closer; but then as he stretched out towards the map, a thought came to him. What would happen when the others found the map missing? They would surely try to find, and then kill the thief. The risk was too great, Angus needed all the time he could obtain, and the most folly thing he could do was to give the others a reason to hasten also. Therefore, he found some paper and some ink and carefully scribed the map down. 

He took great concern in making the lines perfect, because he did not want to spoil the perfect image that the map was. He closely traced the shoreline, and with much thought of detail, retraced the images of horrible sea monsters onto his own paper. Then the jungles went down with great care, and each tree was a perfect copy of the original. The mountain chain even seemed greater in Angus version than it had been in the original; it almost seemed to heighten itself out of the paper. 

Angus used hour after hour on this work, making a perfect copy, or even improving the original, while the original continued humming its song to Angus, and seemed to tell him what to draw.

Angus was just about to finish drawing the altar of light, of which the treasure was supposed to be, when he heard voices coming from right outside the tent.

They started to untie the bottom rope for the "door" of the tent. 

The sides of the altar where now perfectly portrayed. 

The middle tie opened, and a particularly funny joke from Rap had sent all the others into a great laugh.

The top was slowly painted, and the pictures of the stone redrawn.

The topmost tie lastly opened. Rum, Lindy, Marley and Rap entered the tent, to a fluttering of the back tent-side. They looked at each other in wonder. It had been wind-still the complete day.

Then a great wind suddenly came over the place, and with it, all their wonder and thoughts silenced. Quickly afterwards the wind died again. They went to bed quickly afterwards, without planning for the next day, and without gloriously thoughts and tales about the coming treasure. They where all in great wonder about the wind that seemed to blank their minds, and only had lasted for five seconds.

Angus on the other hand, had left the camp, studied the map, and laid a good course.

He travelled now light hearted and was amazed over his own luck. Soon the sky opened its carpet of clouds, and the road was now clear in front of Angus' cheerful feet. 

He travelled all night, and nearly ran the entire next day. The soft chanting of nature constantly followed Angus, encouraging him to hasten and fulfil his quest. It was almost like a song Angus thought for himself, as he grew aware of a distinct tune coming from a mockingbird. In addition, every time he grew tired, slow calming winds gave him new strength and hope in his travels. 

The crew of the Grog Villains Beauty however, was still sleeping when the sun reached its peak on the horizon, and when they finally awoke, an hour after the sun had begun its decent, they could hear nasty and mocking laughter. They were in fact so amazed by this and their own oversleep that it took them another hour just to get organized and along on their travels.

It was now starting to get dark again. The sun was setting, and had already dipped its own edge into the Caribbean ocean. Nevertheless, a massive mountain chain hid that sight from Angus eyes. Angus was close to his destination, and the jungle had grown more and more vicious. He had to cut away branches and plants for every step he took. It was as if no person had ever walked in these areas before. 

Then, after cutting through a whole trunk of a rotting palm, the sight that he had longed for was there. The altar of light! 

He focused all his power, and smashed hard into the trunk a final time smashing it in two. A few more swipes with his cutlass, and he could easily run into the small open area surrounding the altar. 

He had now finally reached the open area surrounding the altar. It was like a temple made out of the jungle itself. The plants had made their own ornaments around the altar, and the trees at the borders to the jungle, seemed like carved walls. However, none of this interested Angus now. He had long wondered what the un-decipherable letters on the light altar on the map were, but now he could easily read them. Surrounding the altar these letters where carved into the large stone: The powers of unbelievable beliefs are here inside. "Inside..." Angus noticed that the altar's top was indeed just a lid of some kind. He tried to move it, but it would not budge, so he read on: This gate will not open by any known or unknown forces. To open the gate you must give blood to the good god of Xyzta "Keeper of light". The sun must itself gaze upon it so that it can see that the giver is pure. 

Angus looked up towards the sky. It was long since the sun had disappeared now. Angus therefore decided to make a little camp, and get some rest. He quickly made himself a short meal, and ate while listening to the crack of trees, and their swaying of branches in the wind. It was all so unreal now. The treasure was not what he suspected it to be. At first, he had believed it to be some grand treasure that a pirate or a Spaniard had hidden away. Now, it seemed that it was one of the Indians treasures, and it even looked un-looted! Like anyone else, Angus had heard the tales of the great riches these petty godless creatures hid away, and now he was going to get his hands unto a whole treasure, possibly filled with gold and jewels. He could retire, and live a life full of luxury; he might even get nobility for retrieving such a grand treasure for his country. Angus smiled joyfully as he thought about all that was to be his while he tried to get some sleep.

Hours went but still Angus had not fallen asleep, even though he had toiled for two long days and soon three nights. He was now starting to get desperate. He had started to believe that he was hearing the others coming to get him, and stealing his treasure. 

At last, Angus got up from his new made bed of soft branches, he was now nervous. He thought that he could hear his former crew talking in the trees nearby. Then suddenly he believed that his ears caught the distinct sound of a gun firing. He looked impatient at the sky. Only the moon, creeping slowly over the treetops was visible. 

The map says altar of LIGHT, Angus thought for himself, so why not?

He went towards the altar, looked into the bowl that was supposed to be used to hold the blood. He looked up again at the moon. It was a full moon, and everything around him was bright. 

Angus thought he heard a crack of a branch. 

Angus then took forth his cutlass and cut open a small flick of skin from one of his fingers. While every tree in the forest seemed gasped and come with warning woes and warnings of doom, Angus influenced by his panicking mind let a drop of blood fall down towards the bowl.

The blood drop flew silently towards the bowl as in slow motion, every sense Angus had, told him that this was a bad move, and that he had to stroke the blood drop away with his hands. Even so, his panicking mind had frozen his limbs into a hold. He still feared that his former "friends" would appear from the jungle.

Then suddenly he heard a terrible and painful shriek from inside the woods. Angus instantly recognised the voice; it was his own! 

He now got out of his panic trance, and quickly waved his hands over the bowl to stop the drop in its flight. He succeeded, the drop landed securely into his palm. Angus was relieved, and proudly gazed at his hand that proclaimed his deed. Then his great mistake was relieved to him; he had used the hand that was bleeding! 

Angus gazed horrified at the long trail of blood-drops coming in an arch at the ground from the bowl. Angus then with great fear gazed into the bowl. The earth seemed to tremble, and the winds were mourning. A single drop of blood had landed on the brink of the bowl. 

Now the lid slowly opened. From it, a light of clear green shone. 

Everything shook. 

At last, it was fully open, and all plants and animals nearby seemed to sing a great, but mournful, hymn of praise. Angus was breathless as he walked amazed into the altar so that he could better see all the glory within. 

The last thing Angus could remember, before entering the great glory of green, was the inscription of the inner walls of the altar: When someone fools Xyzta, and man has enough knowledge of things, the great gift of the gods will fall to the rightful masters.

Then there was green. 

Only green in fact. A great green light replaced all sight. Even when Angus closed his eyes, the green continued its glow. The thought made Angus think about the green moors of old Scotland. 

Then while his eyes where still closed, he scented a smell he had not felt for ages. It was a muddy smell, filled with a hint of sheep manure. Amazed, Angus opened his eyes, and realised to his shock that he had come to Scotland again! There was the old McDow Castle, and all around it, the shepherds were herding the sheep home for the night. Angus smiled gladly and ran home. He did not have to go far though, even though the castle was about two hundred metres away. Within a second, his run was over. It was as if he had only run two metres. Angus did not think of these things though, now he was outside the great and proud castle, filled with history. There, there stood his granduncle Fergus and saluted him at the gate. "Hail to the saviour of our land!" He cried loudly. Suddenly out of nowhere a group of twenty or more, old relatives joined in on the after-yell. "Hail to Angus McDow, ruler of all!" 

Angus found this rather strange; not that they had appeared out of nothing, but rather that they had yelled "ruler of all". He smiled and bowed, and acted like nothing though, trying to be polite. Afterwards he decided that he would ask his granduncle why he had used those words. Angus tried in vain the next few hours to get close to him, but it was quite hard, since it was a grand celebration inside the castle, and everyone wanted his attention. Then, at last, when a great meal made out of living sheep tucked into fried cows' stomachs came on the table, he was able to sneak away from the attention of the others with a poor excuse. He did not really like haggis he said politely. It was an underestimate though; he really hated the stuff. He indeed hated it so much, that he could not be in the same room as it. They also had horrified the recipe greatly he saw. 

Angus met his granduncle Fergus in the kitchen.

Fergus greeted first though. "Why aren't you in the hall and enjoying your haggis?" he asked Angus, with shocked eyes. "You known that you're no Scotsman if you don't eat it right?" 

Angus felt scared; he really hated the stuff, and could not lie to his uncle. "Please don't force me to go back!" He cried. 

"It is your duty to Scotland laddie!" Fergus replied proudly, while starting to push him back inside the hall.

"No, no, no!" Angus cried in panic, he could not believe that he HAD to eat haggis. 

Then suddenly, a thought came into his mind; his question to his uncle, he had to ask the question.

The next moment Fergus sat in a large and dusty chair, and calmly patted on his pipe. 

Angus came slowly and deferential into the library with a bowed head.

"Yes?" Fergus asked, while looking calmly over his book.

"Ehm!" Angus started uncertainly, clearly unsure what he was to expect. "Why did you really, ehm... Dear uncle! Why was it that you, you called me ruler of all?"

"Ruler of all?" his uncle snarled at him. "You're not even a ruler of a single sheep, you unworthy scum!" He then with a great smile waved his book in front of Angus. The heading said; Ancient tortures from Hell. "You're quite a cocky little soul huh? Let's see if some of these recipes would lower your spirit..." 

Angus was horrified. This could not be real! He was going to be tortured for asking a single question? 

Suddenly Angus lay tied to a table in the dark moist dungeon of the castle, and all around him, he could see tools of torture. Fergus himself, where now sharpening an especially dangerous-looking knife. It had the shape of a small, palm-sized, scythe or a sickle. This had to be a horrible dream or something. Angus thought for himself miserably.

Yes of course! A dream. 

He had to try to awake. He had to awake from this nightmare. Angus thoughts grinded towards awakening, but it never happened. The only thing that happened was that the same scene was happening in different surroundings. At last he was broken, and he realized that he had to accept the torments that where to come. 

He now tried to get ready for the pain. He knew that he had to focus on something other than the pain! It was hard however; Fergus did everything that he could to make him perfectly clear over his coming fate. 

Then at last, when Fergus had already cut one long and painful stripe of skin from Angus' back and was closing in for a new go, Angus mind flew towards the Mêlée Island mansion, and its bedroom. 

Instantly he was there, and nothing except from a blood-ripping wound from his back could tell about his former location. Now, in the room where he had once slept so easily and well, he washed away his blood from his back. To his amazement, Angus noticed that the wound had already recovered. The only thing left of it now, was a long thin scar. 

Angus then collapsed on the bed, and unable to think straight, he collapsed.

The End

´

.

Writers note: (for especially interested readers)

Here ends the tale of Angus McDow and his travels with the now famous "Big Whoop" crew. 

Still, some answers from this tale are hidden from my knowledge. Especially about the four remaining members of the Grog Villain Beauty's crew. Even though I cannot certainly say something about their later fates, I got some clear and possible theories:

They most probably found the altar open. 

As to what they saw, few know today. The VoodooLady seems to know some of the truth, but she does not seem to have gained all information on this matter.

When referring to the book "Big Whoop: Unclaimed Bonanza or Myth?" that is found at the Phatt island library, you could easily, when also considering the time span in which they were on Monkey Island, see that there is only two possible visions that could have scared or amazed them:

First possibility: They entered the place when Angus was down into the McDow dungeon. Even they, in their great hatred towards Angus, could not witness the gruesome scenes portrayed there. They therefore, in great fear of the tortures that seemed to reward those entering the altar, split the map, and went separate ways.

Second possibility: It might be that they had entered during the grand feast; and amazed by the great wealth decided to leave and gather more men to carry away all the riches. Since they didn't trust each other any longer, they split the map, and later separated for unknown reason. (Most probably, because they trusted the local inhabitants of the tri-island area even less than they trusted the others in the group.) 

Even so, these are just mere speculations on my part. After hearing this story, Angus and I became separated under grave sircumstances (the voodoolady herself came into my house...), before I could ask any proper questions.

The story is genuine though to most extents. I, nor Angus, could of course know of the other people's thoughts and feelings. Therefore, I have only portrayed this where it seemed logical that they had such thoughts and feelings. This artistic freedom, as I like to call it, along with my freedom with the animals in the last chapter, I have included just to please the readers. The rest of the story though, is the complete truth, although some details and facts might have been lost in Angus memory. 

This book is supposed to clear the misunderstandings that "Big Whoop: Unclaimed Bonanza or Myth?", and local myths have created. This story is the truth, while the book, and the numerous of tales are just pure propaganda. 

Written, by the most honourable and trustworthy **Jim McDow, from the verbal account of the even more honourable and trustworthy Angus McDow. **


	7. credits

It would be impossible for me to take full credit for this story…  
The Characters (most of them at least), locations, and idea for storyline have been taken from the Monkey Island TM games, products of the Lucas Arts firm.  
Therefore most of the credits should go to them.   
  
I must also thank Dalixam, for having a fan-novel section on his site, and also for posting my little story in that section.  
  
But people have also helped me in writing this tale. I will now name the ones who I have found especially helpful for me and my story (arranged after time of helping):   
Ludomaniac: This dear friend, who often has helped me on earlier stories, read the first drafts of the two first chapters. His comments have been crucial for the basis or backbone of the story. Without his help, it is uncertain if this story would be here today. He also read through the whole story before I added the last chapter. His remarks to the whole story, has given me greater understanding of my writing in the eyes of others.   
  
The people who commented my story: The comments on my story have been a major encouragement for the continual work on my story. Whenever I was unable to easily continue, and was close to giving up, I reread the comments that had been written by kind souls, and regained my confidence in myself and the story. If it hadn't been for the comments, it is likely that I've never managed to even finish my second chapter.  
From these many kind souls who commented on my story I would especially like to thank:   
Ryback: His comments where always useful, since they saw the clear errors in my chapters. He also hosted my story on his own fanfiction site. He also let me use his description of the novel on this site.   
  
monkeyislandfanatic: She has been a major help in both grammatical corrections of my chapters, and quality assurance. She has also given me loads of help with names (Like the pumpkin city, Stew Bram, the admiral). She has been my greatest helper throughout chapter 2-6. Without her, my story would probably still be at chapter 3, or perhaps chapter 4, and with tons of grammatical errors, and poorly made up names. It would also be much more varied quality of the chapters (In a bad way).  
  
I have also found great use of the fantastic forum-tread "Ask Haggis#3" and thus would like to thank these people:  
Haggis: He cleared my uncertainty about the true Treasure Fleet. He also taught me that the proper name of "ship's kitchen" is galley, and that the "lumberjack" on board ships, usually is carpenters. A whip-related question about the names, and the history of pumpkins was also answered by him. And lastly he found a small animal at the size of a rabbit that lived in the Caribbean.  
raVen_image: He showed me the correct use of "To kiss the cannons daughter" (translated directly from a Norwegian translation of the phrase). He also found a couple of good possibilities for the rabbit-like animal. I in fact used his Solodendon until my last draft of my story.  
  
And... To whomever who cares...   
The fanfiction.net version of chapter 6, and credits, is a version that is uncorrected by the worldofmi.com correctors, the reason for posting this version, is that this version doesn't contain a rather irritating line-changing error that that version has...  
And also...  
This credit doesn't mean that the story ends here... It is just a security so that people who deserves credit gets it even if it doesn't come a sequel.  
However, a sequel is quite possible. (Not to finish this story, since this story is finished in its own way), But perhaps to finish, or continue on a larger story... Only time will tell if and/or when a sequel(s) might arrive... As for now, progress is slow. 


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